Comparison of eccentric utilization ratio of elite karate (kata) with elite Wushu athletes

[EN] Karate and Wushu are gaining popularity as a sport globally. In Karate there are two events: Kata and Kumite

A Marine Actinomycete Rescues Caenorhabditis elegans from Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection through Restitution of Lysozyme 7

The resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to conventional antimicrobial treatment is a major scourge in healthcare. Therefore, it is crucial that novel potent anti-infectives are discovered. The aim of the present study is to screen marine actinomycetes for chemical entities capable of overcoming P. aeruginosa infection through mechanisms involving anti-virulence or host immunity activities. A total of 18 actinomycetes isolates were sampled from marine sediment of Songsong Island, Kedah, Malaysia. Upon confirming that the methanolic crude extract of these isolates do not display direct bactericidal activities, they were tested for capacity to rescue Caenorhabditis elegans infected with P. aeruginosa strain PA14. A hexane partition of the extract from one isolate, designated as Streptomyces sp. CCB-PSK207, could promote the survival of PA14 infected worms by more than 60%. Partial 16S sequence analysis on this isolate showed identity of 99.79% with Streptomyces sundarbansensis. This partition did not impair feeding behavior of C. elegans worms. Tested on PA14, the partition also did not affect bacterial growth or its ability to colonize host gut. The production of biofilm, protease, and pyocyanin in PA14 were uninterrupted, although there was an increase in elastase production. In lys-7::GFP worms, this partition was shown to induce the expression of lysozyme 7, an important innate immunity defense molecule that was repressed during PA14 infection. GC-MS analysis of the bioactive fraction of Streptomyces sp. CCB-PSK207 revealed the presence of methyl esters of branched saturated fatty acids. In conclusion, this is the first report of a marine actinomycete producing metabolites capable of rescuing C. elegans from PA14 through a lys-7 mediated activity

Shelf life determination of durian (Durio zibethinus) paste and pulp upon high pressure processing

Globally, there has been an increase in demand for durian. Therefore, it is important to extend the shelf life and at the same time, maintain the quality of durian. This study investigated the effect of high-pressure processing (HPP) on the shelf life of durian paste and pulp. Specifically, HPP treatments of 500 MPa for 5 min on nylon- and skin film-packed durian pulp, and 600 MPa for 5 min on nylon-packed durian paste were applied. It was found that throughout the 56-day storage period, the total soluble solids (TSS), pH and titratable acidity of durian paste and pulp showed no significant changes (p>0.05). The colour (L* values) of nylon-packed untreated durian pulp showed no significant changes (p>0.05), while the untreated durian paste and skin film-packed durian pulp showed significant changes (p0.05) throughout the storage period. The microbial levels of all the high- pressure (HP)-treated durian samples remained below the detection limit till the end of the storage study. HP-treated durian samples showed lower enzymatic (polygalacturonase and pectin methyl esterase) activities compared to untreated sample throughout the storage period. Sensory evaluation showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between untreated and HP-treated samples. In summary, HPP effectively maintained the overall quality of durian for a minimum of 56 days

Markers of cardiac dysfunction in cognitive impairment and dementia

Markers of cardiac dysfunction such as amino terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTpro-BNP) and high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) may be associated with dementia. However, limited data exist on their association with either pre-dementia stages, that is, cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND), or the burden of cerebrovascular diseases (CeVD). We therefore, examined the association of these biomarkers of cardiac dysfunction with CeVD in both CIND and dementia. A case–control study, with cases recruited from memory clinics and controls from memory clinics and community. All subjects underwent collection of blood samples, neuropsychological assessment, and neuroimaging. Subjects were classified as CIND and dementia based on clinical criteria whilst significant CeVD was defined as the presence of cortical infarcts and/or more than 2 lacunes and/or confluent white matter lesions in two regions of brain on Age-Related White Matter Changes Scale. We included a total of 35 controls (mean age: 65.9 years), 78 CIND (mean age: 70.2 years) and 80 cases with dementia (mean age: 75.6 years). Plasma concentrations of hs-cTnT were associated significantly with CeVD in both CIND (odds ratios [OR]: 9.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.64–49.79) and dementia (OR: 16.89; 95%CI: 2.02–142.67). In addition, NTpro-BNP was associated with dementia with CeVD (OR: 7.74; 95%CI: 1.23–48.58). These associations were independent of other vascular risk factors. In this study, we showed that plasma NTproBNP and hs-cTnT are associated with dementia and CIND, only when accompanied by presence of CeVD

Src Family Kinases and p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases Regulate Pluripotent Cell Differentiation in Culture

Multiple pluripotent cell populations, which together comprise the pluripotent cell lineage, have been identified. The mechanisms that control the progression between these populations are still poorly understood. The formation of early primitive ectoderm-like (EPL) cells from mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells provides a model to understand how one such transition is regulated. EPL cells form from mES cells in response to l-proline uptake through the transporter Slc38a2. Using inhibitors of cell signaling we have shown that Src family kinases, p38 MAPK, ERK1/2 and GSK3β are required for the transition between mES and EPL cells. ERK1/2, c-Src and GSK3β are likely to be enforcing a receptive, primed state in mES cells, while Src family kinases and p38 MAPK are involved in the establishment of EPL cells. Inhibition of these pathways prevented the acquisition of most, but not all, features of EPL cells, suggesting that other pathways are required. L-proline activation of differentiation is mediated through metabolism and changes to intracellular metabolite levels, specifically reactive oxygen species. The implication of multiple signaling pathways in the process suggests a model in which the context of Src family kinase activation determines the outcomes of pluripotent cell differentiation

Trends in Subjective Quality of Life Among Patients With First Episode Psychosis—A 1 Year Longitudinal Study

Quality of life (QoL) is often used as an outcome assessment in programs treating patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal trend of subjective QoL among patients with FEP and identify the potential influence of patients' social-demographic/lifestyle factors on the trend of QoL. Two hundred and eighty subjects participated in the study. Patient's demographics and subjective QoL were collected at baseline, 6 months and 1 year follow-up. Data were analyzed with a fixed-effect general linear regression model. Subjective QoL demonstrated significant trends of improvement in all four subdomains (physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment). Compared with unemployed participants, employed participants were significantly associated with better social relationships (p = 0.005) and environment (p = 0.029) after adjusting for age and gender. Moderation analysis demonstrated a significant improvement of physical health, social relationships, and environment for participants with a higher level of educational achievement, but not for participants with a lower level of educational achievement. Our results indicate that patients with FEP experienced significant improvement in subjective QoL over a 1 year period. Being employed was associated with overall better social relationships and environment among patients with FEP and higher educational achievement was associated with improvement of physical health, social relationship, and environment. Hence, educational achievement and employment could be considered for future optimization of early psychosis intervention programs

Cryopreservation of Neurospheres Derived from Human Glioblastoma Multiforme

Cancer stem cells have been shown to initiate and sustain tumor growth. In many instances, clinical material is limited, compounded by a lack of methods to preserve such cells at convenient time points. Although brain tumor-initiating cells grown in a spheroid manner have been shown to maintain their integrity through serial transplantation in immune-compromised animals, practically, it is not always possible to have access to animals of suitable ages to continuously maintain these cells. We therefore explored vitrification as a cryopreservation technique for brain tumor-initiating cells. Tumor neurospheres were derived from five patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Cryopreservation in 90% serum and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide yielded greatest viability and could be explored in future studies. Vitrification yielded cells that maintained self-renewal and multipotentiality properties. Karyotypic analyses confirmed the presence of GBM hallmarks. Upon implantation into NOD/SCID mice, our vitrified cells reformed glioma masses that could be serially transplanted. Transcriptome analysis showed that the vitrified and nonvitrified samples in either the stem-like or differentiated states clustered together, providing evidence that vitrification does not change the genotype of frozen cells. Upon induction of differentiation, the transcriptomes of vitrified cells associated with the original primary tumors, indicating that tumor stem-like cells are a genetically distinct population from the differentiated mass, underscoring the importance of working with the relevant tumor-initiating population. Our results demonstrate that vitrification of brain tumor-initiating cells preserves the biological phenotype and genetic profiles of the cells. This should facilitate the establishment of a repository of tumor-initiating cells for subsequent experimental designs