Attenuation of indirect markers of eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage by curcumin

Purpose: Polyphenolic curcumin is known to have potent anti-inflammatory effects; thus the present study investigated the hypothesis that curcumin ingestion would attenuate muscle damage after eccentric exercise. Methods: Fourteen untrained young men (24 ± 1 years) performed 50 maximal isokinetic (120°/s) eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors of one arm on an isokinetic dynamometer and the same exercise with the other arm 4 weeks later. They took 150 mg of curcumin (theracurmin) or placebo (starch) orally before and 12 h after each eccentric exercise bout in a randomised, crossover design. Maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque of the elbow flexors, range of motion of the elbow joint, upper-arm circumference, muscle soreness, serum creatine kinase (CK) activity, and plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) concentration were measured before, immediately after, and 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after each eccentric exercise. Changes in these variables over time were compared between curcumin and placebo conditions by two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Results: MVC torque decreased smaller and recovered faster (e.g., 4 days post-exercise: −31 ± 13 % vs. −15 ± 15 %), and peak serum CK activity was smaller (peak: 7684 ± 8959 IU/L vs. 3398 ± 3562 IU/L) for curcumin than placebo condition (P \u3c 0.05). However, no significant differences between conditions were evident for other variables, and no significant changes in IL-6 and TNF-α were evident after exercise. Conclusion: It is concluded that theracurmin ingestion attenuates some aspects of muscle damage such as MVC loss and CK activity increase

18FDG-PET at 1-Month Intervals Is a Better Predictive Marker for GISTs That Are Difficult to Be Diagnosed Histopathologically: A Case Report

Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of c-KIT and PDGFRA. Imatinib mesylate is an effective drug that can be used as a first-choice agent for treatment of GISTs. Prior to treatment, molecular diagnosis of c-KIT or PDGFRA is necessary; however, in some types of GISTs, it is impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of specimen for diagnosis. An inoperable or marginally resectable GIST in a 79-year-old female was difficult to be diagnosed at a molecular pathological level, and hence, exploratory treatment was initiated using imatinib combined with 18FDG-PET evaluation at 1-month intervals. PET imaging indicated a positive response, and so we continued imatinib treatment in an NAC setting for 4 months. As a result, curative resection of the entire tumor was successfully performed with organ preservation and minimally invasive surgery. 18FDG-PET evaluation at 1-month intervals is beneficial for GISTs that are difficult to be diagnosed histopathologically

Phase II study of trifluridine/tipiracil (TAS‑102) therapy in elderly patients with colorectal cancer (T‑CORE1401): geriatric assessment tools and plasma drug concentrations as possible predictive biomarkers

Purpose The current study aimed to determine the efficacy of trifluridine/tipiracil for elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Methods This single-arm, open-label, multicenter, phase II study included elderly patients aged 65 years or more who had fluoropyrimidine-refractory advanced colorectal cancer and received trifluridine/tipiracil (70 mg/m2, days 1–5 and 8–12, every 4 weeks). The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), while secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), overall response rate (ORR), toxicities, association between efficacy and geriatric assessment scores, and association between toxicity and plasma drug concentrations. Results A total of 30 patients with a mean age of 73 years were enrolled. Median PFS was 2.3 months (95% confidence interval, 1.9–4.3 months), while median OS was 5.7 months (95% confidence interval, 3.7–8.9 months). Patients had an ORR of 0%, with 57% having stable disease. Grade 4 neutropenia was observed in 13% of the patients. Patients with a higher G8 score (15 or more) showed longer PFS than those with a lower G8 score (median 4.6 vs. 2.0 months; p = 0.047). Moreover, patients with grade 3 or 4 neutropenia showed higher maximum trifluridine concentrations than those with grade 1 or 2 neutropenia (mean 2945 vs. 2107 ng/mL; p = 0.036). Discussion The current phase II trial demonstrated that trifluridine/tipiracil was an effective and well-tolerated option for elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Moreover, geriatric assessment tools and/or plasma drug concentration monitoring might be helpful in predicting the efficacy and toxicities in elderly patients receiving this drug. Trial registration number UMIN000017589, 15/May/2015 (The University Hospital Medical Information Network

Individual differences in older adults’ working memory capacity and speed of using touch interfaces

I examined the effect of the working memory capacity (WMC) of older adult participants on tasks using touch interfaces, by using an extreme-groups design. Older participants (N = 100) completed a single tapping task and verbal, numerical, and spatial WMC tasks. To test whether the response time in the single tapping task differed as a result of the WMC, I performed a 2 x 2 Analyses of Variance with WMC (high, n = 25 /low, n = 25) as the between-subjects factors and the tapping interface (a touch pen, a finger, or a computer mouse) as within-subject factors. This indicated a significant interaction between the WMC and the tapping interface. The results suggested that the response time of participants with high WMC was shorter than the response time of participants with a low WMC, when using a touch pen and a computer mouse interfac

ワーキングメモリ容量と外的制約が問題解決に及ぼす影響

第１章 背景と目的 / 1 　第１節 ワーキングメモリと問題解決の概念 / 4 　第２節 ワーキングメモリと問題解決に関する研究の問題点 / 11 　第３節 本研究の目的と方法 / 28 第２章 ワーキングメモリ容量と外的制約が問題解決に及ぼす影響 / 46 　第１節 ワーキングメモリ容量と問題空間が問題解決に及ぼす影響（研究1） / 46 　第２節 ワーキングメモリ容量と外的表象が問題解決に及ぼす影響（研究2） / 54 　第３節 ワーキングメモリ容量と外的表象の利用が問題解決に及ぼす影響（研究3） / 66 第３章 総合考察 / 91 　第１節 本研究の成果と意義 / 91 　第２節 今後の課題 / 97 引用文献 / 100広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(心理学)Psychologydoctora

Distributing Working Memory Resources and the Use of External Representations on Problem Solving

This study examines how problem solvers use distributing working memory resources over internal and external epresentations. Participants played three-dimensional versions of number guessing games. The playing of number guessing games is directly related to consumption of working memory resources. They could use arbitrarily the game record windows which are the external representations of these games and, thus, they could distribute working memory demands over internal working memory resources and external representations. The extents of their using external representations differed depending on the participants. The participants (8 students) who used the external representations on all 10 games did better performances than the participants (43 students) who used the external representations on several games not on all games and the participants (19 students) who did not use the external representations, and got more game record windows than 43 participants who used the external representations not on all 10 games. The results provide evidence about the roles of the external representations and individual differences on the extents of using the external representations

Target words and sentences for Japanese version of the reading span test

日本におけるワーキングメモリスパン課題の一つである日本語版RST(苧阪, 1998, 2002;苧阪・苧阪, 1994)は、ワーキングメモリ研究の有力な研究道具として広く普及している。本研究は、日本語版RST(苧阪, 2002)のターゲット語と刺激文について検討し、日本語版RSTを実施するうえでの基礎的データを提供することが第1の目的である。さらに、日本語版RSTを内的整合性と再検査法によって検討し、信頼性について4つの得点化法に基づいて検討することが第2の目的である。まず、日本語版RSTの刺激文とターゲット語について詳細に検討し、その特徴について記述した。次に、148名の大学生の実験参加者に日本語版RSTを実施し、4つの得点化法ごとに分布の正規性及び日本語版RSTの内的整合性について検討した。次に51名の実験参加者に2回目の日本語版RSTを実施し、各得点化法の信頼性について検討した。その結果、日本語版RSTのターゲット語と刺激文についてその属性ごとの特性や正答率に関する基礎的データを提供することができ、日本語版RSTの内的整合性と信頼性について実証できた

Individual differences in working memory and extemal representations in problem solving

本研究は, 内的表象と外的表象とに分散するワーキングメモリ資源が問題解決に及ぼす影響について, 外的表象とワーキングメモリ容量個人差の点から検討した。領域に依存しない実験課題として, 難易度の異なる数当てゲーム(3桁版, 4桁版)を用意し, 外的表象としてゲーム履歴を取り上げた。大学生20名の実験参加者は, リスニングスパン・テストによって高スパン群とスパン群に分けられ, 3桁版, 4桁版の数当てゲームを各10ゲーム, ゲーム履歴を参照可能な条件と参照できない条件で行った。実験の結果, ゲーム履歴, ワーキングメモリ容量個人差ともに, 問題解決パフォーマンスには影響しなかった。一方, 問題解決プロセスにおいては, 低スパン群は高スパン群に比べより多くゲーム履歴を利用していた。以上の結果に基づき, 問題解決における分散ワーキングメモリ資源としての外的表象とワーキングメモリ容量個人差について考察した

Compensatory problem solving strategy for improving working memory constraints

A compensatory strategy for improving working memory (WM) constraints that are experienced when playing a simplified version of Mastermind was investigated. Formal analysis suggested two feasible play strategies: focusing and tactical. Although the focusing strategy was expected to cause lower WM load and was predicted to compensate for WM constraints, it was considered to be theoretically less efficient than the tactical strategy, which was considered to be theoretically more efficient, but was expected to cause higher WM load. The performance of 45 junior college student participants who were induced to use the two strategies was assessed in Experiment 1. The WM level of all participants as measured by the Reading Span Test indicated a low span. Results indicated that the focusing strategy was more effective than the tactical strategy. In Experiment 2, 10 college student participants increased their spontaneous use of the focusing strategy. These results suggest that the focusing strategy compensates for WM constraints of participants with a low span. The effects of the compensatory strategy for WM constraints in problem solving are discussed