Balance perturbation system to improve balance compensatory responses during walking in old persons

Ageing commonly disrupts the balance control and compensatory postural responses that contribute to maintaining balance and preventing falls during perturbation of posture. This can lead to increased risk of falling in old adults (65 years old and over). Therefore, improving compensatory postural responses during walking is one of the goals in fall prevention programs. Training is often used to achieve this goal. Most fall prevention programs are usually directed towards improving voluntary postural control. Since compensatory postural responses triggered by a slip or a trip are not under direct volitional control these exercises are less expected to improve compensatory postural responses due to lack of training specificity. Thus, there is a need to investigate the use balance perturbations during walking to train more effectively compensatory postural reactions during walking

Detection of methylated septin 9 in tissue and plasma of colorectal patients with neoplasia and the relationship to the amount of circulating cell-free DNA

BACKGROUND: Determination of methylated Septin 9 (mSEPT9) in plasma has been shown to be a sensitive and specific biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the relationship between methylated DNA in plasma and colon tissue of the same subjects has not been reported. METHODS: Plasma and matching biopsy samples were collected from 24 patients with no evidence of disease (NED), 26 patients with adenoma and 34 patients with CRC. Following bisulfite conversion of DNA a commercial RT-PCR assay was used to determine the total amount of DNA in each sample and the fraction of mSEPT9 DNA. The Septin-9 protein was assessed using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The percent of methylated reference (PMR) values for SEPT9 above a PMR threshold of 1% were detected in 4.2% (1/24) of NED, 100% (26/26) of adenoma and 97.1% (33/34) of CRC tissues. PMR differences between NED vs. adenoma and NED vs. CRC comparisons were significant (p<0.001). In matching plasma samples using a PMR cut-off level of 0.01%, SEPT9 methylation was 8.3% (2/24) of NED, 30.8% (8/26) of adenoma and 88.2% (30/34) of CRC. Significant PMR differences were observed between NED vs. CRC (p<0.01) and adenoma vs. CRC (p<0.01). Significant differences (p<0.01) were found in the amount of cfDNA (circulating cell-free DNA) between NED and CRC, and a modest correlation was observed between mSEPT9 concentration and cfDNA of cancer (R2 = 0.48). The level of Septin-9 protein in tissues was inversely correlated to mSEPT9 levels with abundant expression in normals, and diminished expression in adenomas and tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Methylated SEPT9 was detected in all tissue samples. In plasma samples, elevated mSEPT9 values were detected in CRC, but not in adenomas. Tissue levels of mSEPT9 alone are not sufficient to predict mSEPT9 levels in plasma. Additional parameters including the amount of cfDNA in plasma appear to also play a role

Ruthenium oxide-carbon-based nanofiller-reinforced conducting polymer nanocomposites and their supercapacitor applications.

In this review article, we have presented for the first time the new applications of supercapacitor technologies and working principles of the family of RuO2-carbon-based nanofiller-reinforced conducting polymer nanocomposites. Our review focuses on pseudocapacitors and symmetric and asymmetric supercapacitors. Over the last years, the supercapacitors as a new technology in energy storage systems have attracted more and more attention. They have some unique characteristics such as fast charge/discharge capability, high energy and power densities, and long stability. However, the need for economic, compatible, and easy synthesis materials for supercapacitors have led to the development of RuO2-carbon-based nanofiller-reinforced conducting polymer nanocomposites with RuO2. Therefore, the aim of this manuscript was to review RuO2-carbon-based nanofiller-reinforced conducting polymer nanocomposites with RuO2 over the last 17 years