Whole Body Muscle Activity during the FIFA 11+ Program Evaluated by Positron Emission Tomography

Purpose:This study investigated the effect of the FIFA 11+ warm-up program on whole body muscle activity using positron emission tomography.Methods:Ten healthy male volunteers were divided into a control group and a group that performed injury prevention exercises (The 11+). The subjects of the control group were placed in a sitting position for 20 min and 37 MBq of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was injected intravenously. The subjects then remained seated for 45 min. The subjects of the exercise group performed part 2 of the 11+for 20 min, after which FDG was injected. They then performed part 2 of the 11+for 20 min, and rested for 25 min in a sitting position. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography images were obtained 50 min after FDG injection in each group. Regions of interest were defined within 30 muscles. The standardized uptake value was calculated to examine the FDG uptake of muscle tissue per unit volume.Results:FDG accumulation within the abdominal rectus, gluteus medius and minimus were significantly higher in the exercise group than in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion:The hip abductor muscles and abdominal rectus were active during part 2 of the FIFA 11+ program. © 2013 Nakase et al

A Small-Scale Field Trial of Pyriproxyfen-Impregnated Bed Nets against Pyrethroid-Resistant Anopheles gambiae s.s. in Western Kenya

Pyrethroid resistance is becoming a major problem for vector control programs, because at present, there are few suitable chemical substitutes for pyrethroids, as when used on bed nets the insecticide must have low mammalian toxicity as well as high activity to mosquitoes. Pyriproxyfen (PPF) is one of the most active chemicals among the juvenile hormone mimic (JHM) group. Sterilizing mosquitoes by using PPF could be a potential control measure for pyrethroid-resistant malaria vectors. We investigated the sterilizing effects of two types of PPF-impregnated bed nets - a 1% PPF-impregnated net and a 1% PPF +2% permethrin-impregnated net (Olyset Duo) - to pyrethroid-resistant wild population of Anopheles gambiae s.s. in western Kenya. High mortality of blood-fed mosquitos was observed 3 days post-collection, in the houses where PPF-impregnated nets were used, indicating the effect of PPF on the longevity of mosquitos that came in contact with the net. Reduction in the number of ovipositing females, number of eggs, and number of progeny per female were also observed in the houses in which both Olyset Duo and PPF-impregnated nets were used. This is the first field study showing the high sterilizing efficacy of PPF against wild pyrethroid-resistant An. gambiae s.s. population. In addition, we recognized the necessity of combined use of permethrin with PPF, in order to reduce the risk of mosquito bites and provide a level of personal protection. Further studies on wild pyrethroid-resistant mosquito populations such as An. arabiensis and An. funestus s.s. would provide more information on the practical use of the PPF-impregnated bed nets

Combined Cytolytic Effects of a Vaccinia Virus Encoding a Single Chain Trimer of MHC-I with a Tax-Epitope and Tax-Specific CTLs on HTLV-I-Infected Cells in a Rat Model

Adult T cell leukemia (ATL) is a malignant lymphoproliferative disease caused by human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I). To develop an effective therapy against the disease, we have examined the oncolytic ability of an attenuated vaccinia virus (VV), LC16m8 Delta(m8 Delta), and an HTLV-I Tax-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) line, 4O1/C8, against an HTLV-I-infected rat T cell line, FPM1. Our results demonstrated that m8 Delta was able to replicate in and lyse tumorigenic FPM1 cells but was incompetent to injure 4O1/C8 cells, suggesting the preferential cytolytic activity toward tumor cells. To further enhance the cytolysis of HTLV-Iinfected cells, we modified m8 Delta and obtained m8 Delta/RT1AlSCTax180L, which can express a single chain trimer (SCT) of rat major histocompatibility complex class I with a Tax-epitope. Combined treatment withm8 Delta/RT1AlSCTax180L and 4O1/C8 increased the cytolysis of FPM1V.EFGFP/8R cells, a CTL-resistant subclone of FPM1, compared with that using 4O1/C8 and m8. presenting an unrelated peptide, suggesting that the activation of 4O1/C8 by m8 Delta/RT1AlSCTax180L further enhanced the killing of the tumorigenic HTLV-I-infected cells. Our results indicate that combined therapy of oncolytic VVs with SCTs and HTLV-I-specific CTLs may be effective for eradication of HTLV-I-infected cells, which evade from CTL lysis and potentially develop ATL

Plant regeneration with maintenance of the endosperm ploidy level by endosperm culture in Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx

An endosperm culture of Haskap (Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx) was established to develop polyploid plants and investigate the regeneration ability of the endosperm. Based on histological analysis of embryo and endosperm development, endosperms at the globular to early torpedo-stages of developing embryos were used to initiate an endosperm culture. Formation of shoot primordia was observed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium (1962) containing benzyladenine (BA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Shoot primordium formation was confirmed in some genotypes with regeneration frequencies ranging between 1.9% to 10.0%. These proliferated on 1/2 MS medium containing 2.89 μM gibberellic acid (GA3), and then elongated and rooted on MS medium containing 0.44 μM BA and 2.89 μM GA3. These shoots developed into plantlets on 1/2 MS medium. Plantlets maintained ploidy of the endosperm following flow cytometric analysis, thus confirming that these were derived from the endosperm. These results indicated that endosperms were capable of regeneration

Coalescence of Growing Bubbles in Highly Viscous Liquids

Abstract Bubble coalescence in ascending magma is a key process that controls the eruption violence and the texture of volcanic pyroclasts. In the present study, we performed in situ experiments to investigate the coalescence of two growing bubbles in highly viscous liquids (102 and 1,020 Pa ⋅ s). A new experimental apparatus enables us to directly observe the drainage of the film between growing bubbles in three dimensions. We combined the experimental results and a simple scaling analysis to reveal the dynamics of film drainage in terms of a capillary number Ca=ηṘ/σ depending on the liquid viscosity η, the bubble growth rate Ṙ, and the surface tension σ. The capillary number represents the interplay between the viscous force arising from bubble growth and the capillary force. At Ca ≪ 1, two adjacent bubbles retain their spherical shapes until the film ruptures, and the capillary forces control the drainage timescale. In contrast, at Ca ≫ 1, bubbles largely flatten and bubble growth itself drives film drainage. We also provide a general formula for the drainage timescale over a wide range of capillary numbers (10−3 < Ca < 101). Our results highlight the importance of bubble growth in the coalescence process. The variations of bubble shape and number density during decompression can be explained by the capillary number

Zinc in Cardiovascular Functions and Diseases: Epidemiology and Molecular Mechanisms for Therapeutic Development

Zinc is an essential trace element that plays an important physiological role in numerous cellular processes. Zinc deficiency can result in diverse symptoms, such as impairment of the immune response, skin disorders, and impairments in cardiovascular functions. Recent reports have demonstrated that zinc acts as a signaling molecule, and its signaling pathways, referred to as zinc signals, are related to the molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular functions. Therefore, comprehensive understanding of the significance of zinc-mediated signaling pathways is vital as a function of zinc as a nutritional component and of its molecular mechanisms and targets. Several basic and clinical studies have reported the relationship between zinc level and the onset and pathology of cardiovascular diseases, which has attracted much attention in recent years. In this review, we summarize the recent findings regarding the effects of zinc on cardiovascular function. We also discuss the importance of maintaining zinc homeostasis in the cardiovascular system and its therapeutic potential as a novel drug target

An evolutionarily conserved protein CHORD regulates scaling of dendritic arbors with body size.

体の大きさに合わせて神経細胞の大きさを制御するしくみを解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2014-03-17.Most organs scale proportionally with body size through regulation of individual cell size and/or cell number. Here we addressed how postmitotic and morphologically complex cells such as neurons scale with the body size by using the dendritic arbor of one Drosophila sensory neuron as an assay system. In small adults eclosed under a limited-nutrition condition, the wild-type neuron preserved the branching complexity of the arbor, but scaled down the entire arbor, making a "miniature". In contrast, mutant neurons for the Insulin/IGF signaling (IIS) or TORC1 pathway exhibited "undergrowth", which was characterized by decreases in both the branching complexity and the arbor size, despite a normal diet. These contrasting phenotypes hinted that a novel regulatory mechanism contributes to the dendritic scaling in wild-type neurons. Indeed, we isolated a mutation in the gene CHORD/morgana that uncoupled the neuron size and the body size: CHORD mutant neurons generated miniature dendritic arbors regardless of the body size. CHORD encodes an evolutionarily conserved co-chaperone of HSP90. Our results support the notion that dendritic growth and branching are controlled by partly separate mechanisms. The IIS/TORC1 pathways control both growth and branching to avert underdevelopment, whereas CHORD together with TORC2 realizes proportional scaling of the entire arbor