Effects of Neck Position and Movement on the Tonic Vibration Reflex in the Arms

The present study investigated the tonic vibration reflex (TVR) in humans elicited by vibratory stimulation applied to the muscle of the triceps brachii and examined the effects of rotation of the neck on misperception of movement of the elbow. Fifteen healthy subjects actively flexed their elbows from 0° to 90° for 3 s with their eyes closed. During the time that the elbow was flexed, vibratory stimulation (100 Hz) was applied to the tendon of the right triceps brachii. In the first experiment, only the right elbow was flexed (one-arm experiment), whereas in the second experiment both elbows were flexed simultaneously (two-arm experiment). In the two-arm experiment with vibratory stimulation, the mean ( ± SD) angle of the elbow was 63.2 ± 11.2° with neck rotation at 0°, which decreased significantly to 53.0 ± 15.5° (P< 0.05) when the neck was rotated back to 0° from the position of maximal right rotation. This suggests that there is an asymmetric tonic neck reflex as a result of neck movement, with the pathways involved in the crossed extension reflex enhanced by the simultaneous movement of both elbows. The TVR is an effective tool with which the convergence of various reflexes on α-motor neurons innervating the muscles of the extremity can be examined

Decelerated epigenetic aging associated with mood stabilizers in the blood of patients with bipolar disorder

There is high mortality among patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Studies have reported accelerated biological aging in patients with BD. Recently, Horvath and Hannum et al. independently developed DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles as “epigenetic clocks,” which are the most accurate biological age estimate. This led to the development of two accomplished measures of epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) using blood samples, namely, intrinsic and extrinsic EAA (IEAA and EEAA, respectively). IEAA, which is based on Horvath’s clock, is independent of blood cell counts and indicates cell-intrinsic aging. On the other hand, EEAA, which is based on Hannum’s clock, is associated with age-dependent changes in blood cell counts and indicates immune system aging. Further, Lu et al. developed the “GrimAge” clock, which can strongly predict the mortality risk, and DNAm-based telomere length (DNAmTL). We used a DNAm dataset from whole blood samples obtained from 30 patients with BD and 30 healthy controls. We investigated Horvath EAA, IEAA, Hannum EAA, EEAA, Grim EAA, DNAmTL, and DNAm-based blood cell composition. Compared with controls, there was a decrease in Horvath EAA and IEAA in patients with BD. Further, there was a significant decrease in Horvath EAA and IEAA in patients with BD taking medication combinations of mood stabilizers (including lithium carbonate, sodium valproate, and carbamazepine) than in those taking no medication/monotherapy. This study provides novel evidence indicating decelerated epigenetic aging associated with mood stabilizers in patients with BD

Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis

We measured antiphospholipid antibodies in sera from 94 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). We found lgG aCL in 14/94 (14.9 % )lgM aCL in 6/94 (6.4 %) and LA in 4/56 (7.1 %) patients with MG. As a whole 21 of 94 (22.3 % ) patients with MG had some aPL. There was no correlation between the presence of aPL and the severity of MGthe presence of hyperplasia of thymustiter of the antiacetylcholine receptor antibodies or anti-single stranded DNA antibodies. Though the percentage of malignant thymoma with aPL were higher than that of malignant thymoma without aPLwe thought that aPL were not the specific antibody in malignant thymoma. In MGaPL did not play as the aCL syndrome and seemed to be non-specific antibodies

Operational Review of the First Wireline In Situ Stress Test in Scientific Ocean Drilling

Scientific ocean drilling’s first in situ stress measurement was made at Site C0009A during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 319 as part of Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) Stage 2. The Modular Formation Dynamics Tester (MDT, Schlumberger)wireline logging tool was deployed in riser Hole C0009A to measure in situ formation pore pressure, formation permeability (often reported as mobility=permeability/viscosity), and the least principal stress (S3) at several isolated depths (Saffer et al., 2009; Expedition 319 Scientists, 2010). The importance of in situ stress measurements is not only for scientific interests in active tectonic drilling, but also for geomechanical and well bore stability analyses. Certain in situ tools were not previously available for scientific ocean drilling due to the borehole diameter and open hole limits of riserless drilling. The riser-capable drillship, D/V Chikyu,now in service for IODP expeditions, allows all of the techniques available to estimate the magnitudes and orientations of 3-D stresses to be used. These techniques include downhole density logging for vertical stress, breakout and caliper log analyses for maximum horizontal stress, core-based anelastic strain recovery (ASR, used in the NanTroSEIZE expeditions in 2007–2008), and leak-off test (Lin et al., 2008) and minifrac/hydraulic fracturing (NanTroSEIZE Expedition319 in 2009). In this report, the whole operational planning process related to in situ measurements is reviewed, and lessons learned from Expedition 319 are summarized for efficient planning and testing in the future

Characterization of Promoter Activities of Four Different Japanese Flounder Promoters in Transgenic Zebrafish

An important consideration in transgenic research is the choice of promoter for regulating the expression of a foreign gene. In this study several tissue-specific and inducible promoters derived from Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus were identified, and their promoter activity was examined in transgenic zebrafish. The 5′ flanking regions of the Japanese flounder complement component C3, gelatinase B, keratin, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) genes were linked to green fluorescence protein (GFP) as a reporter gene. The promoter regulatory constructs were introduced into fertilized zebrafish eggs. As a result we obtained several stable transgenic zebrafish that displayed green fluorescence in different tissues. Complement component C3 promoter regulated GFP expression in liver, and gelatinase B promoter regulated it in the pectoral fin and gills. Keratin promoter regulated GFP expression in skin and liver. TNF gene promoter regulated GFP expression in the pharynx and heart. TNF promoter had lipoplysaccharide-inducible activity, such that when transgenic embryos were immersed lipopolysaccharide, GFP expression increased in the epithelial tissues. These 4 promoters regulated the expression of GFP in different patterns in transgenic zebrafish

Genetic Diversity of Staphylocoagulase Genes (coa): Insight into the Evolution of Variable Chromosomal Virulence Factors in Staphylococcus aureus

. Although SCs have been classified into 10 serotypes based on the differences in the antigenicity, genetic bases for their diversities and relatedness to chromosome types are poorly understood. type except for the cases of CC1 and CC8, which contained two and three different SC types, respectively. loci, resulting in the carriage of the combinations of allotypically different important virulence determinants in staphylococcal chromosome

BioHackathon series in 2011 and 2012: penetration of ontology and linked data in life science domains

The application of semantic technologies to the integration of biological data and the interoperability of bioinformatics analysis and visualization tools has been the common theme of a series of annual BioHackathons hosted in Japan for the past five years. Here we provide a review of the activities and outcomes from the BioHackathons held in 2011 in Kyoto and 2012 in Toyama. In order to efficiently implement semantic technologies in the life sciences, participants formed various sub-groups and worked on the following topics: Resource Description Framework (RDF) models for specific domains, text mining of the literature, ontology development, essential metadata for biological databases, platforms to enable efficient Semantic Web technology development and interoperability, and the development of applications for Semantic Web data. In this review, we briefly introduce the themes covered by these sub-groups. The observations made, conclusions drawn, and software development projects that emerged from these activities are discussed