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Purpose: To determine factors affecting physical activity in outpatients with gastrointestinal cancer., Methods: This observational study applied the International Physical Activity Questionnaire(IPAQ)to identify factors affecting physical activity in outpatients(male, n=51; female, n=24; mean age, 64.2±10.2 years)with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Relationships between the main outcome measures, total weekly physical activity score(TPA)and total weekly energy expenditure(TEE), and patient background factors were analyzed., Results: The median duration of induction chemotherapy in the 75 outpatients who completed the IPAQ was 242.5(range 7-2,294)days. The TPA and TEE tended to decrease in older patients and were lower in all patients compared with age-specific standard values for healthy persons. Both values tended to increase to a greater extent among patients who worked than among those who did not, and being employed was significantly associated with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status(ECOG-PS). The TEE tended to be lower among patients with adverse events(AE)such as pain., Conclusion: Progressive cachexia, changes in lifestyle, and AE affected physical activity among outpatients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Comprehensive support by an oncology team would probably play an important role in encouraging elderly patients to participate in physical activity.

Because recovery of upper extremity (UE) function to a practical level has been difficult in many stroke patients, compensatory approaches have been emphasized. Based on researches indicating greater potential for brain plasticity, newer approaches targeting at functional restoration have been attempted. However, no intervention has been shown to be effective to improve hand function. We therefore devised a therapeutic approach to facilitate the use of the hemiparetic hand in daily life by combining EMG triggered electrical stimulation with a wrist splint, called hybrid assistive neuromuscular dynamic stimulation (HANDS). With HANDS, we demonstrated improved motor function, spasticity, functional scores and neurophysiological parameters in chronic stroke. With a RCT, we also demonstrated its effectiveness in subacute stroke. However, to be its candidates, electromyogram must be recorded from finger extensors, and it cannot be applied to patients with complete paralysis. For them, we recently developed a Brain Machine Interface (BMI) neurorehabilitation system. Based on analysis of volitionally decreased amplitudes of sensory motor rhythm during motor imagery involving extending the affected fingers, real-time visual feedback is provided. In patients with severe hemiparesis, we demonstrated its effectiveness with clinical scales, neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies. These newer interventions might offer useful neurorehabilitative tools for hemiparetic UE.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in CNS trauma as a proinflammatory cytokine which regulates inflammatory response. Not only being a mediator of inflammation, but IL-6 induces neural stem/progenitor cells to undergo astrocytic differentiation selectively in the injured CNS. These effects are considered to coordinate to prevent the CNS repair after traumatic injury. Consistently, we previously reported that the administration of anti-IL-6 receptor antibody (MR16-1) immediately after spinal cord injury in mice decreased the number of invading inflammatory cells and the severity of connective tissue scar formation, and led to improved functional recovery. These findings suggest that neutralization of IL-6 signaling in the acute phase of SCI will be beneficial for CNS repair. A critical merit of this anti-IL-6 receptor antibody is that humanized antibody to human IL-6 receptor (MRA; Atlizumab) has already been reshaped. However, there are several studies which show beneficial aspects of IL-6 signaling in the pathology of CNS trauma. Further investigation of the mechanisms how MR16-1 reduces tissue damage should be required for clinical application.

Chin (1983) first reported the content of IgM anti-human IgG factor in chicken sera. He investigated the differences in agglutinability between latex particles coated with heat-aggregated IgG from individual specimen sera. No association was found between the potencies of serum reactivities toward the chicken anti-human gamma globulin factor (CAHGF) and the classification of known blood- and serum-groups. This article describes two problems regarding the CAHGF and serum reactivities toward CAHGF. 1) Transfer of CAHGF from chickens to chicks The presence in egg yolk of CAHGF was proved by the agglutination of latex particles coated with heat-aggregated human IgG. Its content, however, was not clearly indicated, because egg white nonspecifically agglutinates latex particles. After the 13-day storage of eggs in an incubator, the CAHGF in the yolk disappeared, and instead, 2 in 4 serum specimens of embryo chicks were shown to contain it. Three of six serum specimens from newly hatched chicks also contained CAHGF. These above results strongly suggest the transfer of CAHGF from the hens' serum to the chicks via the egg yolk. 2) Dot immunoassay of serum reactivities toward CAHGF and its application to genetic studies A dot immunoassay method was developed for quantitating serum reactivities toward CAHGF. In this method, the specimen serum was heated for 60 minutes at 56 degrees C, and serially diluted with glycine buffered saline (GBS). Then three microliters of each dilution was applied to a 10 x 68 mm strip of nitrocellulose membrane (pore size 5 microns).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The titers of hemagglutinins to human erythrocytes were investigated using sera and eggs from hens immunized by a single intraperitoneal injection of crude blood group substance from OSe saliva mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant. Elevation of the hemagglutinin titer in egg yolk followed the increase of serum hemagglutinin with 1- to 2-week time-lag. The maximum hemagglutinin titer of egg yolk was 1/2 to 1/8 of the serum hemagglutinin titer. The total hemagglutinin quantity in egg yolk exceeded the serum quantities of the antibody in sacrificed hens. Egg-white transiently contained a very low titer of hemagglutinin. The yolk hemagglutinin scarcely migrated at all to the white after storage of the egg for 3 months at 5 degrees C. These results indicate that egg yolk from hens immunized with blood group substances is an appropriate source of blood group hemagglutinins.

Hens were immunized intraperitoneally with OSe saliva mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant, and the properties of hemagglutinins in sera and egg yolk were compared. Both serum and egg yolk hemagglutinins agglutinated O, A1, B and A1B erythrocytes to a similar degree, and both showed somewhat stronger agglutinating potencies at 5 degrees C than at 25 degrees C or 37 degrees C. The degrees of agglutination were little improved by the addition of 20% BSA or PVP medium solution for potentiating incomplete agglutinin. The antiglobulin-augmentation reaction with specific anti-chicken-Igs revealed that the principal immunoglobulins of the serum hemagglutinins produced during the early and hyperimmune phases of immune response were IgM and IgG, respectively; whereas the presence in egg yolk of both IgM and IgG hemagglutinins was demonstrated throughout the antibody producing periods. The yolk probably contained IgM incomplete hemagglutinins, because addition of an antiserum to chicken-IgM strongly enhanced the yolk hemagglutinin. The secretor status of six saliva specimens, OSe, Ose, ASe, Ase, BSe and Bse, was tested by the agglutinin-inhibition reaction using one of the following reagents: Ulex lectin, chicken antiserum, and egg yolk hemagglutinin. High inhibition titers of OSe saliva were obtained with the serum hemagglutinin (of the early and hyperimmune phases) and the yolk hemagglutinin of the eggs laid in the hyperimmune phase. The test with Ulex lectin showed a moderate grade of inhibition, and the use of yolk hemagglutinin produced in the early stage of immune response resulted in very low inhibition titers. Yolk hemagglutinins produced in the early and hyperimmune stages were more strongly inhibited by ASe and BSe salivas than by other hemagglutinin reagents. These results indicate the availability of blood group agglutinins in the yolks of eggs laid during the hyperimmune stage.