Correlation between aerobic threshold and cardiopulmonary response to exercise onset in patients with myocardial infarction

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the correlation between aerobic threshold (AT) and cardiopulmonary response at the start of exercise in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Subjects and Methods: Thirty-one male patients with MI underwent a sub-maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test with expiratory gas analysis to determine their peak oxygen uptake (V̇O₂) level, using Ramp protocol. Results: The patients demonstrated an extended time constant (TC) and decline in AT in this study. Extended TC suggested impaired cardiac function due to reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), as well as an LVEF of 59.8% on average. However, there was no significant correlation between TC and AT. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were 0.56 between AT and area under the oxygen uptake curve (V̇O₂AUC), -0.22 between TC and V̇O₂AUC, and -0.23 between AT and TC. Conclusion: V̇O₂AUC is representative of oxygen utilization and is correlated with AT in patients with MI.首都大学東京学位論文 乙第192号 副論

心機能低下を伴う心不全例における嫌気性代謝閾値の予測因子

首都大学東京, 2019-03-25, 博士（理学療法学）, 乙第192号首都大学東

Identification of a mammalian vesicular polyamine transporter

Spermine and spermidine act as neuromodulators upon binding to the extracellular site(s) of various ionotropic receptors, such as N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors. To gain access to the receptors, polyamines synthesized in neurons and astrocytes are stored in secretory vesicles and released upon depolarization. Although vesicular storage is mediated in an ATP-dependent, reserpine-sensitive fashion, the transporter responsible for this process remains unknown. SLC18B1 is the fourth member of the SLC18 transporter family, which includes vesicular monoamine transporters and vesicular acetylcholine transporter. Proteoliposomes containing purified human SLC18B1 protein actively transport spermine and spermidine by exchange of H+. SLC18B1 protein is predominantly expressed in the hippocampus and is associated with vesicles in astrocytes. SLC18B1 gene knockdown decreased both SLC18B1 protein and spermine/spermidine contents in astrocytes. These results indicated that SLC18B1 encodes a vesicular polyamine transporter (VPAT)

Prognostic Factors in Endodontic Surgery Using an Endoscope: A 1 Year Retrospective Cohort Study

This retrospective study clarified the success rate of endoscopic endodontic surgeries and identified predictors accounting for successful surgeries. In this retrospective study, 242 patients (90 males, 152 females) who underwent endoscopic endodontic surgery at a single general hospital and were diagnosed through follow-up one year later were included. Risk factors were categorized into attributes, general health, anatomy, and surgery. Then, the correlation coefficient was calculated for the success or failure of endodontic surgery for each variable, the odds ratio was calculated for the upper variable, and factors related to the surgical prognosis factor were identified. The success rate of endodontic surgery was 95.3%, showing that it was a highly predictable treatment. The top three correlation coefficients were post, age, and perilesional sclerotic signs. Among them, the presence of posts was the highest, compared with the odds ratio, which was 9.592. This retrospective study revealed the success rate and risk factors accounting for endoscopic endodontic surgeries. Among the selected clinical variables, the presence of posts was the most decisive risk factor determining the success of endodontic surgeries

Toll-like receptor 9 mediates innate immune activation by the malaria pigment hemozoin

Malaria parasites within red blood cells digest host hemoglobin into a hydrophobic heme polymer, known as hemozoin (HZ), which is subsequently released into the blood stream and then captured by and concentrated in the reticulo-endothelial system. Accumulating evidence suggests that HZ is immunologically active, but the molecular mechanism(s) through which HZ modulates the innate immune system has not been elucidated. This work demonstrates that HZ purified from Plasmodium falciparum is a novel non-DNA ligand for Toll-like receptor (TLR)9. HZ activated innate immune responses in vivo and in vitro, resulting in the production of cytokines, chemokines, and up-regulation of costimulatory molecules. Such responses were severely impaired in TLR9−/− and myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)−/−, but not in TLR2, TLR4, TLR7, or Toll/interleukin 1 receptor domain–containing adaptor-inducing interferon β−/− mice. Synthetic HZ, which is free of the other contaminants, also activated innate immune responses in vivo in a TLR9-dependent manner. Chloroquine (CQ), an antimalarial drug, abrogated HZ-induced cytokine production. These data suggest that TLR9-mediated, MyD88-dependent, and CQ-sensitive innate immune activation by HZ may play an important role in malaria parasite–host interactions

A single amino acid mutation in an ABC transporter gene causes resistance to Bt toxin Cry1Ab in the silkworm, \u3cem\u3eBombyx mori\u3c/em\u3e

Bt toxins derived from the arthropod bacterial pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis are widely used for insect control as insecticides or in transgenic crops. Bt resistance has been found in field populations of several lepidopteran pests and in laboratory strains selected with Bt toxin. Widespread planting of crops expressing Bt toxins has raised concerns about the potential increase of resistance mutations in targeted insects. By using Bombyx mori as a model, we identified a candidate gene for a recessive form of resistance to Cry1Ab toxin on chromosome 15 by positional cloning. BGIBMGA007792-93, which encodes an ATP-binding cassette transporter similar to human multidrug resistance protein 4 and orthologous to genes associated with recessive resistance to Cry1Ac in Heliothis virescens and two other lepidopteran species, was expressed in the midgut. Sequences of 10 susceptible and seven resistant silkworm strains revealed a common tyrosine insertion in an outer loop of the predicted transmembrane structure of resistant alleles. We confirmed the role of this ATP-binding cassette transporter gene in Bt resistance by converting a resistant silkworm strain into a susceptible one by using germline transformation. This study represents a direct demonstration of Bt resistance gene function in insects with the use of transgenesis

¿De vuelta a Los ocho años? A propósito de La guerra de Figueres, de Guillermo Villegas Hoffmaister

El libro de Guillermo Villegas Hoffmeister, “La guerra de Figueres”, tiene sin duda el subtítulo exacto Crónica de ocho años, porque eso es lo que es. Basado en alguna documentación escrita, en sus propios recuerdos personales y en una revisión de los periodos de la década de 1940, la obra se presenta ante todo como un producto de entrevistas realizadas por el autor a distintos personajes de la época. El resultado final es una narrativa descriptiva y parcializada, que combina alguna información interesante con datos sin importancia y algunas notables inexactitudes históricas: por ejemplo, el autor afirma que ¡el partido republicano nacional fue fundado por Maximiliano Fernández en 1909!, y en lo que parece ser producto de un lamentable descuido de él y de la EUNED, fecha la batalla de tejar el 13 de marzo en vez del 13 de abril de 1948…UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Artes y Letras::Centro de Investigación en Identidad y Cultura Latinoamérica (CIICLA

Construction of scales measuring educational effects on the "Power to live".

近年、学校教育において、生きる力の育成が目標とされている。本研究は生きる力の3要素である確かな学力、豊かな心、及び健やかな体に、信頼される校区・学校を加えた4領域の教育効果を測定する質問紙を作成するとともに、4領域の相互関係について分析することを目的とする。教育実践者への聞き取り調査から得られた項目から予備質問紙を作成し、調査後の結果に対して、領域毎に因子分析を適用した。各領域とも1因子構造が示され、因子負荷量の高い項目を参考に各領域の因子名を「確かな学びの形成力」「自尊感情」「健康志向性」「学校肯定感」とし、4尺度を構成した。「自尊感情」と他3尺度の関連性を検討したところ、「自尊感情」は他の3尺度との間に強い関連性を示したことから、自尊感情は生きる力の形成に大きな影響を与えることが示唆された。Developing the "Power to Live" has become an objective in recent education. The objectives of this study was to construct a scale to measure the educational effects of the three domains of the "Power to Live": "evident academic ability", "enriched mind", "healthy body" in addition to "reliable school and district", and to analyze the interactions among these four domains. The pre-questionnaire was constructed by items extracted from interviews with school teachers. Factor analysis was used on the results of the pre-questionnaire survey and demonstrated a mono-factor structure in each domain. According to factor loadings in items, the following factors were designated; "ability to form reliable learning"; "feeling of self-esteem", "orientation for health" and "positive feelings for school". "Feeling of self-esteem" was strongly related to the three other scales. These results showed that feelings of self-esteem influence the "Power to Live"