Effect of different exercise programs on the psychological and cognitive functions of people with Parkinson's disease

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of different exercise programs on the psychological and cognitive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Forty-five patients with PD participated in the study. The participants were randomized in three intervention programs: Group-1 (n=15, cognitive-activities), Group-2 (n=15, multimodal exercise) and Group-3 (n=15, exercises for posture and gait). The clinical, psychological and cognitive functions were assessed before and after 4 months of intervention. Univariate analysis did not reveal significant interactions between groups and time (p>0.05). However, univariate analysis for time revealed differences in stress level and memory. Participants showed less physical stress (p<0.01) and overall stress (p < 0.04) and higher performance in episodic declarative memory (p < 0.001) after exercise. These findings suggest that group work with motor or non-motor activities can improve cognitive and psychological functions of patients with PD

Analysis of influenza A virus NS1 dimer interfaces in solution by pulse EPR distance measurements

H.L.T. was supported by the University of St Andrews; S.A.J. is supported by the BBSRC, U.K.; P.S.K. is supported by the Medical Research Council, U.K.; B.E.B. is grateful for an EaStCHEM Hirst Academic Fellowship by the School of Chemistry, St Andrews, and funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme [REA 334496]. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust [099149/Z/12/Z].Pulsed electron-electron double resonance (PELDOR) is an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy technique for nanometer distance measurements between paramagnetic centres such as radicals. PELDOR has been recognized as a valuable tool to approach structural questions in biological systems. In this manuscript we demonstrate the value of distance measurements for differentiating competing structural models on the dimerization of the effector domain (ED) of the non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of the influenza A virus. Our results show NS1 to be well amenable to nanometer distance measurements by EPR, yielding high quality data. In combination with mutants perturbing protein dimerization and in silico prediction based on crystal structures we can exclude one of two potential dimerization interfaces. Furthermore, our results lead to a viable hypothesis of a NS1 ED:ED interface which is flexible through rotation around the vector interconnecting the two native cysteines. These results prove the high value of pulse EPR as a complementary method for structural biology.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe