Movement Component Analysis of Reaching Strategies in Individuals With Stroke: Preliminary Study.

Background: Upper limb motor paresis is a major symptom of stroke, which limits activities of daily living and compromises the quality of life. Kinematic analysis offers an in-depth and objective means to evaluate poststroke upper limb paresis, with anticipation for its effective application in clinical settings.

Objective: This study aims to compare the movement strategies of patients with hemiparesis due to stroke and healthy individuals in forward reach and hand-to-mouth reach, using a simple methodology designed to quantify the contribution of various movement components to the reaching action.

Surgical strategy for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma invading the trachea: a comparison of tracheal sleeve resection with end-to-end anastomosis and window resection with tracheocutaneous fistula.

Background: Sleeve resection with end-to-end anastomosis (Procedure A) and window resection with a tracheocutaneous fistula (Procedure B) are the major surgical procedures for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) exhibiting transluminal tracheal invasion. For each procedure, the indications, postoperative course, and treatment results were examined retrospectively.

Methods: Of 1,456 patients with PTC (maximum tumor diameter >1 cm) who received initial treatment between 1993 and 2013, we reviewed 51 patients.

Analysis of the NUDT15 gene and metabolites of azathioprine in Japanese patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Thiopurines continue to play an important role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is well known that thiopurines can cause several adverse reactions. Especially, hematopoietic toxicity may lead to severe agranulocytosis.

In Vitro and In Vivo Antiglycation Effects of Connarus ruber Extract.

Accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) of the Maillard reaction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications. has been used as a folk remedy for several diseases, including diabetes; however, its underlying mechanism has not yet been investigated. This study investigated the effects of extract against glycation on collagen-linked AGEs and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-DM rats) .

Clinical Diagnosis of Central Vertigo in Patients With Dizziness in Emergency Practice.

Background: Life-threatening diseases should be promptly identified to provide appropriate medical care for emergency outpatients experiencing dizziness. However, dizziness is associated with various medical conditions; thus, a definitive diagnosis is challenging. To accurately diagnose vertigo in an emergency outpatient, we conducted a survey on the need to identify vertigo patients in the current outpatient departments.

Clonal array profiling of scFv-displaying phages for high-throughput discovery of affinity-matured antibody mutants.

"Antibody-breeding" approach potentially generates therapeutic/diagnostic antibody mutants with greater performance than native antibodies. Therein, antibody fragments (e.g.

Changes in the expression of prefoldin subunit 5 depending on synaptic plasticity in the mouse hippocampus.

Prefoldin is a molecular chaperone that assists the folding of newly synthesized polypeptide chains and prevents aggregation of misfolded proteins. Dysfunction of prefoldin is one of the causes of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The aim of this study was to clarify the involvement of prefoldin subunit 5 (PFDN5) in synaptic plasticity.

Canine pemphigus foliaceus with concurrent immune-mediated thrombocytopenia.

A 3 yr old wirehaired fox terrier was presented to his primary care veterinarian with fever, thrombocytopenia, and generalized crusting dermatitis. The skin lesion had progressed for at least 18 days, and thrombocytopenia had developed 3 days before presentation. Histopathology and direct immunofluorescence studies of the skin were consistent with pemphigus foliaceus (PF).

Signs and symptoms of methylmercury contamination in a First Nations community in Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

In 1970, fish caught in the English-Wabigoon River system in northwestern Ontario, Canada, were found to be contaminated with mercury coming from a chlor-alkali plant in the province. In the 1970s, patients exhibiting some of the symptoms of the Hunter-Russell syndrome (e.g.

Aldo-keto reductase 1C15 as a quinone reductase in rat endothelial cell: its involvement in redox cycling of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone.

9,10-Phenanthrenequinone (9,10-PQ), a redox-active quinone in diesel exhausts, triggers cellular apoptosis via reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in its redox cycling. This study found that induction of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-homologous protein (CHOP), a pro-apoptotic factor derived from endoplasmic reticulum stress, participates in the mechanism of rat endothelial cell damage. The 9,10-PQ-mediated CHOP induction was strengthened by a proteasome inhibitor (MG132) and the MG132-induced cell sensitization to the 9,10-PQ toxicity was abolished by a ROS inhibitor, suggesting that ROS generation and consequent proteasomal dysfunction are responsible for the CHOP up-regulation caused by 9,10-PQ.

Protective effect of rat aldo-keto reductase (AKR1C15) on endothelial cell damage elicited by 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal.

4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), a major reactive product of lipid peroxidation, is believed to play a central role in atherogenic actions triggered by oxidized lipoproteins. An aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1C15 efficiently reduces HNE and is distributed in many rat tissues including endothelial cells. In this study, we investigated whether AKR1C15 acts as a protective factor against endothelial damage elicited by HNE and oxidized lipoproteins.

Biochemical and structural characterization of a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase of Thermus thermophilus HB8: a hyperthermostable aldose-1-dehydrogenase with broad substrate specificity.

Thermus thermophilus HB8 is a hyperthermophilic bacterium, thriving at environmental temperature near 80 degrees C. The genomic analysis of this bacterium predicted 18 genes for proteins belonging to the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductases (SDR) superfamily, but their functions remain unknown. A SDR encoded in a gene (TTHA0369) was chosen for functional and structural characterization.

Suppression of glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive foci development in rat hepatocarcinogenesis by Chlorella pyrenoidosa.

The modifying effects of dietary administration of dried Chlorella pyrenoidosa powder (C. pyrenoidosa) on the development of glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive foci (GST-P-positive foci), which are putative preneoplastic lesions, in male F344 rats were investigated using a medium-term liver bioassay system. In rats given 10% C.

Susceptibilities of phospholipid vesicles containing different sterols to amphotericin B-loaded lysophosphatidylcholine micelles.

To investigate the susceptibilities of fungal and mammalian cells to amphotericin B (AmB), AmB-loaded lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)micelles as drug delivery vehicles were incubated at 37 degrees C with phosphatidylcholine vesicles containing different sterols as model systems for fungal and mammalian cells. The binding and kinetics of AmB to sterols in the membranes were judged by UV-visible spectroscopy. In the 91% monomeric form, AmB interacted rapidly with ergosterol and slowly with 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), while it did not interact with cholesterol.