Quantifying lower limb skeletal muscle activity changes after 3 months of intrinsic foot muscle training: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Foot rock-paper-scissors and towel-gathering exercises are widely used for isometric strengthening of intrinsic foot muscles. An initial trial demonstrated that foot rock-paper-scissors and towel-gathering exercises affected skeletal muscles associated with the medial longitudinal arch and toe pressure force, respectively. However, no quantitative reports of interosseous muscle activity after continuous training exist.

Usefulness of 2D-Perfusion Analysis for the Assessment of Unilateral Cervical Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis.

Objective: We investigated the usefulness of 2D-perfusion analysis for the evaluation of cerebral blood flow in unilateral cervical internal carotid artery stenosis.

Methods: We conducted a 2D-perfusion analysis during cerebral angiography and I-iodoamphetamine (IMP) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for unilateral cervical internal carotid artery stenosis without contralateral stenosis. The relationship between the ratio of the lesion side to the normal side in the parameters obtained by 2D-perfusion and the value calculated by stereotactic extraction estimation (SEE) analysis of SPECT was statistically examined.

Metabolic dependent and independent pH-drop shuts down VirSR quorum sensing in Clostridium perfringens.

Clostridium perfringens produces various exotoxins and enzymes that cause food poisoning and gas gangrene. The genes involved in virulence are regulated by the agr-like quorum sensing (QS) system, which consists of a QS signal synthesis system and a VirSR two-component regulatory system (VirSR TCS) which is a global regulatory system composed of signal sensor kinase (VirS) and response regulator (VirR). We found that the perfringolysin O gene (pfoA) was transiently expressed during mid-log phase of bacterial growth; its expression was rapidly shut down thereafter, suggesting the existence of a self-quorum quenching (sQQ) system.

Endothelial Progenitors: A Consensus Statement on Nomenclature.

Endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) nomenclature remains ambiguous and there is a general lack of concordance in the stem cell field with many distinct cell subtypes continually grouped under the term "EPC." It would be highly advantageous to agree on standards to confirm an endothelial progenitor phenotype and this should include detailed immunophenotyping, potency assays, and clear separation from hematopoietic angiogenic cells which are not endothelial progenitors. In this review, we seek to discourage the indiscriminate use of "EPCs," and instead propose precise terminology based on defining cellular phenotype and function.

Sperm length variations in five species of cypridoidean non-marine ostracods (Crustacea).

Spermatozoa of the ostracod superfamily Cypridoidea include some of the longest in the animal kingdom, but unlike other so-called giant spermatozoa, they are aflagellate, probably evolved only once, and represent an exceptionally old trait. Sperm length variations within cypridoidean species remain poorly known, a lack that hinders the development of hypotheses to explain their length and variation. For this study, the lengths of 500 spermatozoa from each of five species of freshwater cypridoidean ostracods, Candonopsis tenuis (Brady, 1886), Fabaeformiscandona subacuta (Yang, 1982), Heterocypris rotundata (Bronshtein, 1928), Ilyocypris japonica Okubo, 1990, and Notodromas trulla Smith and Kamiya, 2014, were measured, including the lengths of the posterior and anterior regions.

Patients with End-stage Interstitial Lung Disease may have More Problems with Dyspnea than End-stage Lung Cancer Patients.

Introduction: Patients with end-stage interstitial  lung disease (ILD) do not appear to receive adequate palliative care despite apparent suffering before death. The aim of this study was to evaluate their signs, symptoms, and treatment received before death.

Methods: Patients with ILD and lung cancer (LC) who were hospitalized and died in our hospital were enrolled retrospectively.

A proposal for a TNM staging system for extramammary Paget disease: Retrospective analysis of 301 patients with invasive primary tumors.

Background: Although extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) usually appears as carcinoma in situ, it sometimes becomes invasive (iEMPD) and fatal. However, a TNM staging system for iEMPD has yet to be established.

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish a TNM staging system for iEMPD.

Gene regulation by the VirS/VirR system in Clostridium perfringens.

The Gram-positive anaerobic spore-forming rod, Clostridium perfringens, is widely distributed in nature, especially in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. C. perfringens produces many secreted toxins and enzymes that are involved in the pathogenesis of gas gangrane and gastrointestinal disease.

Cyclodepsipeptides produced by actinomycetes inhibit cyclic-peptide-mediated quorum sensing in Gram-positive bacteria.

Cyclic peptides are commonly used as quorum-sensing autoinducers in Gram-positive Firmicutes bacteria. Well-studied examples of such molecules are thiolactone and lactone, used to regulate the expression of a series of virulence genes in the agr system of Staphylococcus aureus and the fsr system of Enterococcus faecalis, respectively. Three cyclodepsipeptides WS9326A, WS9326B and cochinmicin II/III were identified as a result of screening actinomycetes culture extracts for activity against the agr/fsr system.

Regulation of toxin gene expression in Clostridium perfringens.

The Gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped Clostridium perfringens is widely distributed in nature, especially in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. C. perfringens causes clostridial myonecrosis (or gas gangrene), enteritis and enterotoxemia in humans and livestock by producing numerous extracellular toxins and enzymes.

The freshwater ostracod (Crustacea) genus Notodromas Lilljeborg, 1853 (Notodromadidae) from Japan; taxonomy, ecology and lifestyle.

Although Notodromas monacha (O. F. Müller, 1776) was first reported from Japan over 85 years ago, detailed comparisons between Japanese and European specimens reveal that the Japanese specimens have been misidentified.

Influence of static alignment of the knee, range of tibial rotation and tibial plateau geometry on the dynamic alignment of "knee-in" and tibial rotation during single limb drop landing.

Background: Dynamic alignment of "knee-in & toe-out" is a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injury and is possibly influenced by static knee alignment, range of tibial rotation and tibial plateau geometry.

Methods: Twenty-eight healthy women were classified into valgus, neutral and varus groups based on static alignment of their knees. A 3-dimensional motion analysis was carried out for a single limb drop landing.

A hypoplastic retinal lamination in the purpurin knock down embryo in zebrafish.

Recently, we cloned a photoreceptor-specific purpurin cDNA from axotomized goldfish retina. In the present study, we investigate the structure of zebrafish purpurin genomic DNA and its function during retinal development. First, we cloned a 3.

Growth-associated protein43 (GAP43) is a biochemical marker for the whole period of fish optic nerve regeneration.

In adult visual system, goldfish can regrow their axons and fully restore their visual function even after optic nerve transection. The optic nerve regeneration process in goldfish is very long and it takes about a half year to fully recover visual function via synaptic refinement. Therefore, we investigated time course of growth-associated protein 43 (GAP43) expression in the goldfish retina for over 6 months after axotomy.

Purpurin expression in the zebrafish retina during early development and after optic nerve lesion in adults.

Purpurin, a retina-specific protein, is known to play a role in cell adhesion during development of the chicken retina. Although purpurin has been significantly detected in adult chicken retina, its function in the matured retina is not well understood. Therefore, to determine the expression pattern of purpurin in the retina, we simultaneously investigated expression patterns of purpurin in the zebrafish retina during development in larvae and optic nerve regeneration after nerve transection in adults.

Activation of cell survival signals in the goldfish retinal ganglion cells after optic nerve injury.

Generally, nerve injury of adult mammalian CNS neurons leads to a retrograde neuronal degeneration and cell death. The retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of rat fail to regenerate and become apoptotic after optic nerve injury. In contrast, goldfish RGCs can survive and regrow their axons after injury.

P300 and response time from the colored Kanji Stroop task.

The P300 component of the event-related brain potential during the colored Kanji Stroop task was used in conjunction with response time to identify the locus of interference. Participants were instructed to respond to the colored Kanji characters as quickly as possible in the respective stimulus conditions. Response time varied with the congruence and incongruence stimulus conditions.

Lymphoepithelial cyst of the pancreas: case report with special reference to imaging--pathologic correlation.

We report a case of resected lymphoepithelial cyst of the pancreas with special reference to the imaging-pathologic correlation. Visualization of a multilocular cystic nature with internal heterogeneous hyperechogenicity on ultrasound, hyperdensity on precontrast computed tomography, and granular hypointensity on T2-weighted image due to abundant internal keratin substances were considered to be keys to the differential diagnosis from other cystic lesions of the pancreas.

Oligoclonal expansion of circulating and tissue-infiltrating CD8+ T cells with killer/effector phenotypes in juvenile dermatomyositis syndrome.

Although triggering by infectious agents and abnormal immune responses may play some role in the pathogenesis of juvenile dermatomyositis syndrome (JDMS), the precise mechanism of muscle destruction and vascular damage is largely unknown. In this study, we tried to elucidate the role of cytotoxic T cells in two patients with JDMS, who were diagnosed based on the characteristic symptoms, laboratory data, MRI findings and electromyographic patterns. Peripheral blood T cell phenotypes were determined by flow cytometry, using mAbs against specific T cell receptor (TCR) Vbetas.

Cellular localization of endocrine cells in the adult pancreas of the house musk shrew, Suncus murinus: a comparative immunocytochemical study.

The right and left lobes of the pancreas in the house musk shrew, Suncus murinus, were found to be completely separated. A morphologic study of the pancreas in S. murinus in terms of the blood supplies and innervation of the right and left lobes was performed in our previous study.

Innervation of the pancreas from the perspective of perineural invasion of pancreatic cancer.

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer invasion via neural routes (perineural invasion) has been studied extensively, but detailed research on the morphology of innervation of the pancreas related to perineural invasion is scarce.

Aims: To clarify the morphology of neural distribution in the human pancreas.

Methodology: The pancreas and surrounding structures were dissected in 9 cadavers, the specimens were immersed in a 0.