RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OVER-ARM THROWING PATTERN AND THROWING PERFORMANCE

Throwing is a common movement among the upper extremities activities. This study examined the relationship between throwing patterns and throwing distance. Eighty-five age 21 years old students (m =29, F =56)voluntarily participated in the study. Each subject threw a tennis ball as hard as they could straightforward for three trials. A video camera at subjects' right hand side was used to record the subjects' motion. The Burton's (1992) amendment of DSOT table was used to quantify the throwing patterns. Data collected was examined by Pearson correlation(p < .05). The results were as follows: 1. the trunk rotation was found to associated with throwing distance for the male SUbject, 2. the backswing and trunk rotation were associated with throwing distance for the female SUbject

Polarization-independent phase modulation of a homeotropic liquid crystal gel

A homeotropic liquid crystal (LC) gel with submicron domain size is fabricated and its phase-only modulation property evaluated. The LC gel is highly transparent in the voltage-off state and exhibits pure phase modulation before light scattering occurs. Compared to a nanosized polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (nano-PDLC), our gel possesses a larger phase change but at a lower operating voltage because of a higher LC concentration. Similar to a nano-PDLC, our gel also exhibit submillisecond response time, hysteresis-free, and polarization-independent phase change

Mutations in the PKM2 exon-10 region are associated with reduced allostery and increased nuclear translocation.

PKM2 is a key metabolic enzyme central to glucose metabolism and energy expenditure. Multiple stimuli regulate PKM2's activity through allosteric modulation and post-translational modifications. Furthermore, PKM2 can partner with KDM8, an oncogenic demethylase and enter the nucleus to serve as a HIF1α co-activator. Yet, the mechanistic basis of the exon-10 region in allosteric regulation and nuclear translocation remains unclear. Here, we determined the crystal structures and kinetic coupling constants of exon-10 tumor-related mutants (H391Y and R399E), showing altered structural plasticity and reduced allostery. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed increased interaction with KDM8 for H391Y, R399E, and G415R. We also found a higher degree of HIF1α-mediated transactivation activity, particularly in the presence of KDM8. Furthermore, overexpression of PKM2 mutants significantly elevated cell growth and migration. Together, PKM2 exon-10 mutations lead to structure-allostery alterations and increased nuclear functions mediated by KDM8 in breast cancer cells. Targeting the PKM2-KDM8 complex may provide a potential therapeutic intervention

Applying Apriori algorithm to explore long-term care services usage status—Variables based on the combination of patients with dementia and their caregivers

PurposeThe aim of this study was to identify the combination of patients with dementia and their caregivers' characteristics associated with long-term care (LTC) services usage.Patients and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with 475 patients with mild, moderate, and severe dementia at Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan. Eleven types of variables from patients with dementia, nine types of variables from patients' caregivers, and 15 types of LTC services were used for this study. The Apriori algorithm was employed to identify the attributes from the patients and their caregivers who used a particular LTC service from a comprehensive viewpoint.ResultsA total of 75 rules were generated by the Apriori algorithm with support of 2%, confidence of 80%, and lift &gt;1. Among these rules, 25 rules belonged to home personal care services which were summarized further into four general rules for home personal care services. On the other hand, 50 rules belonged to assistive devices that were summarized further into 21 general rules based on their similarities. Patient's walking ability, patient's emotional liability, unemployed or retired caregivers, caregivers' feelings with either helplessness or hopelessness, and caregivers who cared for patients with dementia solely were found to be the critical variables to use home personal care services. In contrast, patient's walking ability, age, and severity as well as caregivers' age, mood, marital status, caregiving burden, and the patient being cared for mainly by a foreign care helper were found to be the critical variables to use assistive devices.ConclusionThis study showed preliminary results on the LTC service usage from patients with dementia and their caregivers residing in the community. Understanding the patient–caregiver dyad's profile leads the service providers, policymakers, and the referral team to tailor service provisions better to meet the needs and identify the potential target groups. The findings in this study serve as references to reduce caregivers' burden as well as to improve the quality of care for patients with dementia

A new analysis tool for individual-level allele frequency for genomic studies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Allele frequency is one of the most important population indices and has been broadly applied to genetic/genomic studies. Estimation of allele frequency using genotypes is convenient but may lose data information and be sensitive to genotyping errors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This study utilizes a unified intensity-measuring approach to estimating individual-level allele frequencies for 1,104 and 1,270 samples genotyped with the single-nucleotide-polymorphism arrays of the Affymetrix Human Mapping 100K and 500K Sets, respectively. Allele frequencies of all samples are estimated and adjusted by coefficients of preferential amplification/hybridization (CPA), and large ethnicity-specific and cross-ethnicity databases of CPA and allele frequency are established. The results show that using the CPA significantly improves the accuracy of allele frequency estimates; moreover, this paramount factor is insensitive to the time of data acquisition, effect of laboratory site, type of gene chip, and phenotypic status. Based on accurate allele frequency estimates, analytic methods based on individual-level allele frequencies are developed and successfully applied to discover genomic patterns of allele frequencies, detect chromosomal abnormalities, classify sample groups, identify outlier samples, and estimate the purity of tumor samples. The methods are packaged into a new analysis tool, ALOHA (<b>A</b>llele-frequency/<b>L</b>oss-<b>o</b>f-<b>h</b>eterozygosity/<b>A</b>llele-imbalance).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first time that these important genetic/genomic applications have been simultaneously conducted by the analyses of individual-level allele frequencies estimated by a unified intensity-measuring approach. We expect that additional practical applications for allele frequency analysis will be found. The developed databases and tools provide useful resources for human genome analysis via high-throughput single-nucleotide-polymorphism arrays. The ALOHA software was written in R and R GUI and can be downloaded at <url>http://www.stat.sinica.edu.tw/hsinchou/genetics/aloha/ALOHA.htm</url>.</p

GPER-induced signaling is essential for the survival of breast cancer stem cells.

G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 (GPER), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, mediates estrogen-induced proliferation of normal and malignant breast epithelial cells. However, its role in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) remains unclear. Here we showed greater expression of GPER in BCSCs than non-BCSCs of three patient-derived xenografts of ER- /PR+ breast cancers. GPER silencing reduced stemness features of BCSCs as reflected by reduced mammosphere forming capacity in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo with decreased BCSC populations. Comparative phosphoproteomics revealed greater GPER-mediated PKA/BAD signaling in BCSCs. Activation of GPER by its ligands, including tamoxifen (TMX), induced phosphorylation of PKA and BAD-Ser118 to sustain BCSC characteristics. Transfection with a dominant-negative mutant BAD (Ser118Ala) led to reduced cell survival. Taken together, GPER and its downstream signaling play a key role in maintaining the stemness of BCSCs, suggesting that GPER is a potential therapeutic target for eradicating BCSCs