Routine functional assessment for hip fracture patients

Background and purpose — Pre-fracture functional level has been shown to be a consistent predictor of rehabilitation outcomes in older hip fracture patients. We validated 4 overall pre-fracture functional level assessment instruments in patients aged 65 or more, used the prediction of outcome at 4 months post-fracture, and assessed cutoff values for decision making in treatment and rehabilitation. Patients and methods — 165 consecutive patients with acute primary hip fracture were prospectively included in the study. Pre-fracture Barthel-20, Barthel-100, cumulated ambulation score, and new mobility score were scored immediately after admission. Outcome defined as mortality, residential status, and independent walking ability was assessed at 4 months. Results — 3 of the assessment instruments, namely Barthel-20, Barthel-100, and new mobility score, correlated with outcome at 4 months post-fracture and were valid predictors. Thresholds were estimated. We found no evidence that Barthel-100, with its finer granularity, performs better than Barthel-20 as a predictor. Interpretation — Our findings indicate that pre-fracture scores of Barthel-20 and new mobility score have predictive ability, and further investigation of usage for guidance of clinical and rehabilitation decisions concerning hip fracture patients is warranted

Three distinct developmental pathways for adaptive and two IFN-γ-producing γδ T subsets in adult thymus

Mouse γδ T cells have diverse functional subsets, but how these subsets are programmed during their development is still unclear. Here the authors show that three surface markers, CD117, CD200 and CD371, refine the development of γδ T cells in the thymus into three pathways programming distinct γδ T cell subsets

β2-Adaptin is constitutively de-phosphorylated by serine/threonine protein phosphatase PP2A and phosphorylated by a staurosporine-sensitive kinase

AbstractClathrin-mediated endocytosis includes cycles of assembly and disassembly of the clathrin-coated vesicle constituents. How these cycles are regulated is still not fully known but previous studies have indicated that phosphorylation of coat subunits may play a role. Here we describe that β2-adaptin undergoes cycles of phosphorylation/de-phosphorylation in intact cells. Thus, β2-adaptin was constitutively de-phosphorylated by serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A and phosphorylated by a staurosporine-sensitive kinase in vivo. Confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that phosphorylated AP2 complexes were found more evenly distributed at the plasma membrane compared to non-phosphorylated AP2 complexes which were found in aggregates. Finally, we found that phosphorylation of β2-adaptin correlated with inhibition of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Our results support the hypothesis that phosphorylation/de-phosphorylation of coat proteins plays a regulatory role in the assembly/disassembly cycle of clathrin-coated vesicles