Self-exercise and hip fracture

The purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of self-exercise for elderly patients in an acute hospital after hip fracture. This retrospective observational study used data from the Japan Rehabilitation Database spanning 2005−2015. This study identified in-hospital hip fracture patients admitted to an acute hospital. After applying exclusion criteria, 375 patients were eligible. The primary outcome was motor Functional Independence Measure (FIM) efficiency. Of the patients with hip fracture, 39% performed self-exercises. Patients who performed self-exercise had significantly higher motor FIM efficiency than those who did not (1.22 vs. 0.79 ; P < 0.01). Multivariable regression analysis showed that motor FIM efficiency was significantly and positively correlated with self-exercise (coefficient, 0.25 ; 95% confidence interval, 0.13 to 0.43 ; P < 0.01). The data suggest that self-exercise is associated with good rehabilitation outcomes in hip fracture patients

The effect of dynamic stretching on hamstrings flexibility with respect to the spino-pelvic rhythm

Objectives : To ascertain the dynamic stretch effects of flexibility of the hamstrings on lumbar spine and pelvic kinematics. Background : Tight hamstrings are positively correlated with low back pain. However, it is unclear how flexibility of the hamstrings affects spino-pelvic rhythm. Methods : Twelve healthy men participated in the study. The straight leg raising (SLR) angle, finger floor distance (FFD), and spino-pelvic rhythm was measured before and after the 6-week stretching protocol. The forward bending task was divided into 4 phases. The paired t-test was used to determine significant differences before and after the FFD, SLR angle, lumbar motion, and pelvic motion, and spino-pelvic rhythm in each phase (p<0.05). Results : After 6 weeks of stretching, significant improvements were seen in the FFD with maximum forward bending and in the SLR angle. Total pelvic rotation was also significantly increased in contrast to total lumbar flexion. A decreased spino-pelvic ratio was seen in the final phase. Conclusion : Dynamic stretching could change the spino-pelvic rhythm to a pelvis-dominant motion, indicating that flexible hamstrings are important for preventing low back pain

Differential Expression of Two Catechol 1,2-Dioxygenases in Burkholderia sp. Strain TH2

Burkholderia sp. strain TH2, a 2-chlorobenzoate (2CB)-degrading bacterium, metabolizes benzoate (BA) and 2CB via catechol. Two different gene clusters for the catechol ortho-cleavage pathway (cat1 and cat2) were cloned from TH2 and analyzed. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis showed that while both catechol dioxygenases (CatA1 and CatA2) were produced in BA-grown cells, CatA1 was undetectable when strain TH2 was grown on 2CB or cis,cis-muconate (CCM), an intermediate of catechol degradation. However, production of CatA1 during growth on 2CB or CCM was observed when cat2 genes were disrupted. The difference in the production of CatA1 and CatA2 was apparently due to a difference in inducer recognition by the regulators of the gene clusters. The inducer of CatA1 was found to be BA, not 2CB, by using a 2-halobenzoate dioxygenase gene (cbd) disruptant, which is incapable of transforming (chloro)benzoate. It was also found that CCM or its metabolite acts as an inducer for CatA2. When cat2 genes were disrupted, the growth rate in 2CB culture was reduced while that in BA culture was not. These results suggest that although cat2 genes are not indispensable for growth of TH2 on 2CB, they are advantageous

Amino Acids in Positions 48, 52, and 73 Differentiate the Substrate Specificities of the Highly Homologous Chlorocatechol 1,2-Dioxygenases CbnA and TcbC

Chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase (CCD) is the first-step enzyme of the chlorocatechol ortho-cleavage pathway, which plays a central role in the degradation of various chloroaromatic compounds. Two CCDs, CbnA from the 3-chlorobenzoate-degrader Ralstonia eutropha NH9 and TcbC from the 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene-degrader Pseudomonas sp. strain P51, are highly homologous, having only 12 different amino acid residues out of identical lengths of 251 amino acids. But CbnA and TcbC are different in substrate specificities against dichlorocatechols, favoring 3,5-dichlorocatechol (3,5-DC) and 3,4-dichlorocatechol (3,4-DC), respectively. A study of chimeric mutants constructed from the two CCDs indicated that the N-terminal parts of the enzymes were responsible for the difference in the substrate specificities. Site-directed mutagenesis studies further identified the amino acid in position 48 (Leu in CbnA and Val in TcbC) as critical in differentiating the substrate specificities of the enzymes, which agreed well with molecular modeling of the two enzymes. Mutagenesis studies also demonstrated that Ile-73 of CbnA and Ala-52 of TcbC were important for their high levels of activity towards 3,5-DC and 3,4-DC, respectively. The importance of Ile-73 for 3,5-DC specificity determination was also shown with other CCDs such as TfdC from Burkholderia sp. NK8 and TfdC from Alcaligenes sp. CSV90 (identical to TfdC from R. eutropha JMP134), which convert 3,5-DC preferentially. Together with amino acid sequence comparisons indicating high conservation of Leu-48 and Ile-73 among CCDs, these results suggested that TcbC of strain P51 had diverged from other CCDs to be adapted to conversion of 3,4-DC

Detection of genetically engineered microorganisms in paddy soil using a simple and rapid "nested" polymerase chain reaction method

A simple method for the detection of small populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens P.B8-1, containing the nptII gene of Tn5 as a unique marker, was applied to a Nyuzen paddy soil using cell extraction (indirect DNA extraction) and a "nested" polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This involved processing samples through a combination of a sucrose gradient centrifugation procedure to isolate bacterial cells, followed by cell lysis with proteinase K and CTAB (hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide)-NaCl. This method allowed the extraction of DNA within about 6 h followed by amplification of DNA. The optimized "nested" PCR comprised a "2-step" PCR (45 cycles) using two 20-mer primers, followed by a "3-step" PCR (30 cycles) using two 26-mer primers which were internal to the first set. After the first PCR step was performed, the amplified DNA was detectable from the inoculated soil containing a minimum of 105 cfu g-1. However, the "nested" PCR procedure permitted the detection of amplified DNA fragments from inoculated non-sterile soils containing 1.3 × 101 cfu g-1. The application of this detection strategy was tested by monitoring the survival of P. fluorescens P.B8-1 in a non-sterile paddy soil during a 53-day period. The P.B8-1 population decreased in soils maintained at either 25 or 10°C after inoculation. After 53 days, samples of soil maintained at 10°C contained 102 cfu g-1 of P.B8-1 (as determined by selective plate count) and permitted amplification of DNA by the "nested" PCR. At the same time, P.B8-1 was not detected in soil maintained at 25°C by either method. The results obtained using this detection strategy suggest that it is highly applicable to monitoring the fate of genetically engineered microorganisms in natural paddy soils