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Background Sarcopenia negatively affects the short-term prognosis of hospitalized older adults. However, no evidence currently supports a direct relationship between sarcopenia and readmission among individuals who have experienced an acute stroke. Therefore, we investigated whether sarcopenia is associated with readmission after discharge. Methods This retrospective cohort study included patients who had experienced acute stroke. Sarcopenia was defined as the coexistence of low skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and grip strength. We applied the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to analyze whether sarcopenia, low SMI, and low grip strength were associated with readmission within 6 months. Results Among 228 included patients (mean age, 72.8 years; 146 males), the prevalence of sarcopenia was 24.6% (n=56; male 17.8%; female 36.6%). Cox proportional hazards regression analysis using the propensity score as a covariate revealed that sarcopenia (hazard ratio [HR]=7.21; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45–35.8; p=0.016) and low skeletal muscle mass (HR=7.40; 95% CI 1.14–48.1; p=0.036), but not low grip strength (HR=1.42; 95% CI 0.281–7.21; p=0.670), were significantly associated with readmission for stroke within 6 months. Conclusions Sarcopenia was negatively associated with readmission within 6 months of stroke onset in patients in Japan who had experienced an acute stroke. These findings suggest that the identification of sarcopenia may facilitate prognostic prediction from the acute stage and intervention(s) to prevent rehospitalization.

Background This study aimed to determine whether changes in phase angle during rehabilitation are associated with clinical outcomes such as activities of daily living (ADL), skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), and strength in patients with osteoporotic fractures. Methods This retrospective observational study included patients with osteoporotic fractures admitted to convalescent rehabilitation wards. Changes in phase angle were defined as the difference between the phase angle values at discharge and on admission. The primary outcome was the Functional Independence Measure motor (FIM-motor) score at discharge. The secondary outcomes were SMI and handgrip strength at discharge. We used multivariate analysis to adjust for confounding factors and examine the association between changes in the phase angle and outcomes. Results We analyzed a total of 115 patients (97 women, mean age of 81.0±10.0 years), with a median change in phase angle of 0° during hospitalization. We observed increased phase angles in 49 patients (43%), with a median increase of 0.2°. Multiple regression analysis showed that changes in phase angle were independently associated with FIM-motor score at discharge (β=0.238, p=0.027). Changes in phase angle were not significantly associated with SMI (β=0.059, p=0.599) or handgrip strength (β=-0.032, p=0.773) at discharge. Conclusion An increased phase angle during rehabilitation was positively associated with ADL improvement in patients with osteoporotic fractures. These findings may help clinicians make informed decisions regarding patient care and treatment strategies for better outcomes.

Animals navigate their environment by manipulating their movements and adjusting their trajectory which requires a sophisticated integration of sensory data with their current motor status. Here, we utilize the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to explore the neural mechanisms of processing the sensory and motor information for navigation. We developed a microfluidic device which allows animals to freely move their heads while receiving temporal NaCl stimuli. We found that C. elegans regulates neck bending direction in response to temporal NaCl concentration changes in a way which is consistent with a C. elegans' navigational strategy which regulates traveling direction toward preferred NaCl concentrations. Our analysis also revealed that the activity of a neck motor neuron is significantly correlated with neck bending and activated by the decrease in NaCl concentration in a phase-dependent manner. By combining the analysis of behavioral and neural response to NaCl stimuli and optogenetic perturbation experiments, we revealed that NaCl decrease during ventral bending activates the neck motor neuron which counteracts ipsilateral bending. Simulations further suggest that this phase-dependent response of neck motor neurons can facilitate curving toward preferred salt concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship motion responses and added resistance in waves have been predicted by a wide variety of computational tools. However, validation of the computational flow field still remains a challenge. In the previous study, the flow field around the Korea Research Institute for Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) Very Large Crude-oil Carrier 2 tanker model with and without propeller condition and without rudder condition was measured by the authors, as well as the resistance and self-propulsion tests in waves. In this study, the KRISO container shipmodel appended with a rudder was used for the higher Froude number .26 and smaller block coefficient .65. The experiments were conducted in the Osaka University towing tank using a 3.2-m-long ship model for resistance and self-propulsion tests in waves. Viscous flow simulation was performed by using CFDShip-Iowa. The wave conditions proposed in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Workshop 2015 were considered, i.e., the wave-ship length ratio λ/L = .65, .85, 1.15, 1.37, 1.95, and calm water. The objective of this study was to validate CFD results by Experimental Fluid Dynamics (EFD) data for ship vertical motions, added resistance, andwake flowfield. The detailed flowfield for nominalwake and self-propulsion condition will be analyzed for λ/L = .65, 1.15, 1.37, and calm water. Furthermore, bilge vortex movement and boundary layer development on propeller plane, propeller thrust, and wake factor oscillation in waves will be studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is accompanied by chronic, low-grade inflammation in adipose tissue, which is associated with insulin resistance and consequent multiple metabolic diseases. In addition to M1 macrophage infiltration, multiple involvements of adipose tissue T lymphocytes in the progression of inflammation have been highlighted recently. Here, we isolated a specific Vɑ5/Vβ8.2 TCR-bearing T cell that accumulated in obese adipose tissue of mice, and generated transgenic mice expressing this TCR. Under lean conditions with a normal chow diet, CD4+FoxP3+ Treg cells and M2 macrophages increased in adipose tissue with ageing in wild-type mice, but not in transgenic mice. However, both mice exhibited no obvious adipose tissue inflammation such as the formation of crown-like structures (CLSs) of infiltrating macrophages. When fed a high-fat diet, the proportion of adipose tissue Treg cells was markedly small at a similar level in transgenic and wild-type mice. Both types of mice exhibited comparable inflammatory states in adipose tissue, including vast formation of macrophage CLSs, accompanied by insulin resistance. Together, our findings suggest that the absence of an increase in Treg cells and M2 macrophages is not sufficient to initiate inflammatory macrophage infiltration in lean adipose tissue and also provide a new view about the involvement of T cells in promoting obesity-associated inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Loss of histone H4 lysine 20 trimethylation (H4K20me3) is associated with multiple cancers, but its role in breast tumors is unclear. In addition, the pathological effects of global reduction in H4K20me3 remain mostly unknown. Therefore, a major goal of this study was to elucidate the global H4K20me3 level in breast cancer tissue and investigate its pathological functions. Methods Levels of H4K20me3 and an associated histone modification, H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3), were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in a series of breast cancer tissues. Univariate and multivariate clinicopathological and survival analyses were performed. We also examined the effect of overexpression or knockdown of the histone H4K20 methyltransferases, SUV420H1 and SUV420H2, on cancer-cell invasion activity in vitro. Results H4K20me3, but not H3K9me3, was clearly reduced in breast cancer tissue. A reduced level of H4K20me3 was correlated with several aspects of clinicopathological status, including luminal subtypes, but not with HER2 expression. Multivariate analysis showed that reduced levels of H4K20me3 independently associated with lower disease-free survival. Moreover, ectopic expression of SUV420H1 and SUV420H2 in breast cancer cells suppressed cell invasiveness, whereas knockdown of SUV420H2 activated normal mammary epithelial-cell invasion in vitro. Conclusions H4K20me3 was reduced in cancerous regions of breast-tumor tissue, as in other types of tumor. Reduced H4K20me3 level can be used as an independent marker of poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Most importantly, this study suggests that a reduced level of H4K20me3 increases the invasiveness of breast cancer cells in a HER2-independent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of electrical stimulation on calpain and ubiquitin-proteasome systems was examined in the denervated and unloaded tibialis anterior muscles of male Wistar rats. Animals were divided into 5 groups: control, denervation, denervation plus electrical stimulation, unloading, and hindlimb unloading plus electrical stimulation groups. Due to denervation and unloading for 14 days, muscle atrophy markedly occurred in the denervated and unloading animals, and the atrophy in the former was significantly more severe than that in the latter. In the denervated muscle, the atrophy was significantly attenuated by the electrical stimulation, but not in the unloaded muscle. Overexpression of calpain-2 and ubiquitinated proteins was observed only in denervated muscles. In the unloaded animals, though the expression level of calpain-2 appeared to be slightly higher than that in the control, the expression level of ubiquitinated proteins was almost the same as that in the control. The overexpression of calpain-1, calpain-2, and ubiquitinated proteins in the denervated muscle was inhibited by the electrical stimulation. However, there was no difference in these expressions between the unloaded and unloaded plus electrical stimulation groups. The mechanism of the preventive effect of the electrical stimulation on muscle atrophy might differ between the denervated and unloaded muscles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

sd1-d originating from ‘Dee-geo-woo-gen’ has been utilized to develop short-culmed indica varieties adaptable to higher fertilizer-application. Its tall alleles SD1-in and SD1-ja are harbored in indica and japonica subspecies, respectively. The sd1-d of indica IR36 was substituted with SD1-in or SD1-ja by recurrent backcrossing with IR36, and two tall isogenic lines (“5867-36” and “Koshi-36”) were developed. IR36, 5867-36 and Koshi-36 were grown in a paddy field in three years, and yield and related traits were measured, the effects of SD1-in and SD1-ja on yielding ability and related characteristics were examined on the genetic background of IR 36. SD1-in decreased panicle number per m2 but increased spikelet number per panicle, ripened-grain percentage and 1000-grain weight, compared with sd1-d, resulting in the increase of yield. The increase of 1000-grain weight by SD1-in, caused by the increases of length, width and thickness of grain, was due to the increases of the length and width of lemma. SD1-ja did not significantly affect yield, mainly because the decrease of panicle number per m2 was compensated by the enlarged 1000-grain weight owing to the increase of lemma length. Serious lodging was observed in long-culmed 5867-36, suggesting that sd1-d is indispensable for indica breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]