Association between physical function and parameters of hip structural analysis in patients with hip fracture.

Objectives: The current study sought to investigate whether physical function and activity were associated with hip structural analysis (HSA) parameters on the non-fracture side of patients with hip fractures.

Methods: Participants were patients with unilateral hip fracture treated by surgery. HSA of the proximal femur was conducted based on dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry data.

Improvement of muscle quality assessed using the phase angle is influenced by recovery of knee extension strength in patients with hip fractures.

Background And Aims: Studies reported that knee extension strength on the operated side in patients with hip fractures was not recovered to the level on the non-operated side 6 months after surgery or later. In a cross-sectional study, we revealed that a reduction in isometric knee extension muscle strength on the operated side in patients with hip fractures approximately 6 months after surgery was associated with not only a reduction in skeletal muscle mass but also a reduction in muscle quality, characterized by a reduction in the phase angle (PhA). Furthermore, the mechanisms of knee extension strength improvement can be clarified in more detail using the minimal significant change as the index of recovery.

Efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on zoledronic acid-induced acute-phase reactions: randomized, open-label, Japanese OZ study.

Introduction: Zoledronic acid infusion is used to treat osteoporosis but patients, especially Japanese patients, often experience acute-phase reactions (APRs). In this multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group study, we examined the efficacy of the most commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug loxoprofen in Japan in reducing the incidence rate of zoledronic acid-induced APRs and body temperature, and investigated risk/protective factors for APRs in this population.

Materials And Methods: Patients aged ≥ 60 years with primary osteoporosis (n = 368) were allocated randomly to zoledronic acid plus loxoprofen (ZOL + LOX) or zoledronic acid alone (ZOL).

Mutational analysis of Kex2 recognition sites and a disulfide bond in tannase from Aspergillus oryzae.

Aspergillus oryzae tannase (AoTanA), which contains two Kex2 recognition sites at positions Arg311 and Arg316, consists of two subunits that are generated by the cleavage of tannase gene product by the Kex2 protease. Based on the crystal structure of feruloyl esterase from Aspergillus oryzae (AoFaeB), which has been classified as a member of the fungal tannase family, the catalytic triad residues of AoTanA are predicted to be Ser195, Asp455, and His501, with the serine and histidine residues brought together by a disulfide bond of the neighboring cysteines, Cys194 and Cys502. In this study, we investigated the functional role of the Kex2 recognition sites and disulfide bond between the neighboring cysteines in AoTanA.

Biochemical characterization of Aspergillus oryzae native tannase and the recombinant enzyme expressed in Pichia pastoris.

In this study, the biochemical properties of the recombinant tannase from Aspegillus oryzae were compared with those of the native enzyme. Extracellular native tannase was purified from a commercial enzyme source. Recombinant tannase highly expressed in Pichia pastoris was prepared as an active extracellular protein.

Pneumocephalus associated with cerebrospinal fluid fistula as a complication of spinal surgery: a case report.

Pneumocephalus is a well-known condition following head trauma, but is rare as an injury or as a result of surgery of the spine. We present a 76-year-old patient with a rare case of pneumocephalus associated with a cerebrospinal fluid fistula as a complication of surgical treatment for cervical myelopathy. Although cerebrospinal fluid leakage was noted and the injured dura was carefully sutured at operation, tension pneumocephalus occurred.

Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric determination of 27 trace elements in table salts after coprecipitation with indium phosphate.

The coprecipitation method using indium phosphate as a new coprecipitant has been developed for the separation of trace elements in table salts prior to their determination using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Indium phosphate could quantitatively coprecipitate 27 trace elements, namely, Be, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu, in a table salt solution at pH 10. The rapid coprecipitation technique, in which complete recovery of the precipitate was not required in the precipitate-separation process, was completely applicable, and, therefore, the operation for the coprecipitation was quite simple.

Modulation of the secondary injury process after spinal cord injury in Bach1-deficient mice by heme oxygenase-1.

Object: Oxidative stress contributes to secondary injury after spinal cord injury (SCI). The expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which protects cells from various insults including oxidative stress, is upregulated in injured spinal cords. Mice deficient in Bach1 (Bach1-/-), a transcriptional repressor of the HO-1 and beta-globin genes, express high levels of HO-1 mRNA and protein in various organs.

Oxidative stress reaction in the meniscus of Bach 1 deficient mice: potential prevention of meniscal degeneration.

Bach 1 is a transcription factor that negatively regulates the transcription of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a stress-responding protein. In this study, we investigated the reaction to oxidative stress in the meniscus of Bach 1 deficient mice, and the suppression of meniscal degeneration by the induction of HO-1. We carried out a comparative study between Bach 1 deficient mice and wild type mice, in which the oxidative stress reaction and age-related changes were investigated using the menisci of 6-, 12-, and 24-week-old mice.

Idiopathic osteonecrosis of the second metatarsal head.

Idiopathic necrosis of the second metatarsal head is quite unusual in adults. We present a rare case of idiopathic osteonecrosis of the second metatarsal head in an adult via magnetic resonance imaging, which enabled an early diagnosis of the necrosis before osteochondral deformity could develop. This case is noteworthy due to its rarity and its successful nonoperative treatment.

Rapid coprecipitation technique using yttrium hydroxide for the preconcentration and separation of trace elements in saline water prior to their ICP-AES determination.

Yttrium hydroxide quantitatively coprecipitated Be(II), Ti(IV), Cr(III), Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) at pH 9.6 - 10.0 for seawater and pH 10.

Bicyclic dioxetanes bearing an inden-2-yl or a benzo(b)thiazol-2-yl moiety as a CIEEL-active chemiluminescent substrate emitting red light.

Bicyclic dioxetanes bearing 5-(t-butyldimethylsiloxy)inden-2-yl, 3, or 5-(t-butyldimethylsiloxy)benzo(b)thiazol-2-yl, 4, were synthesized. On treatment with large excess of tetrabutylammonium fluoride in DMSO, dioxetane, 3, decomposed rapidly with accompanying emission of red (vermilion) light (lambda(max) (CL) = 637 nm). Comparing the chemiluminescent properties for 3 with those for related dioxetane, 1, in which pi-conjugation system is not fixed in plane, both CIEEL-decay rate and chemiluminescent efficiency were found to be improved for 3.

Fluoride-induced chemiluminescent decomposition of 1,2-dioxetanes bearing a phenyl moiety substituted with a methyl having an electron-withdrawing group.

A new type of dioxetane bearing a 3-(cyanomethyl)phenyl (1a), 3-(methoxycarbonylmethyl)phenyl (1b), 3-(benzoylmethyl)phenyl (1c), or 3-[cyano(methoxycarbonyl)methyl]phenyl group (1d) decomposed through an intermediary dioxetane bearing a benzylic carbanion to afford crimson to yellow light on treatment with TBAF in DMSO.