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Background: Functional recoveries after rehabilitation of patients with branch atheromatous disease (BAD) have not been well investigated, however, clinical category of cerebral infarction including BAD itself could be a potential predictive factor for functional outcome. Objective: To describe characteristics of functional recoveries of patients with BAD through comparison with other types of cerebral infarction. Methods: We retrospectively compared outcomes of patients with BAD (N = 222), cardioembolic cerebral infarction (CE: N = 177) and atherothrombotic cerebral infarction (AT: N = 219) by using functional independence measure (FIM) and FIM effectiveness (the proportion of potential for improvement achieved). Results: Univariate analysis showed that FIM on discharge was comparable among three types of cerebral infarction, but that FIM effectiveness in patients with BAD was significantly higher than those with CE or AT. Stratified analysis revealed higher FIM effectiveness in patients with BAD compared to patients with CE or AT, if they were male, younger (≤72 years) or had supratentorial brain lesions. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that location of the brain lesion (supratentorial vs infratentorial) and gender (male vs female) were significantly associated with FIM on discharge, and that cognitive function on admission as well as gender were significantly associated with FIM effectiveness in patients with BAD, but not in patients with CE or AT. Conclusions: Outcomes after rehabilitation of patients with BAD may be characterized by better functional improvement, especially if patients are male, relatively younger or with supratentorial lesions. The impact and the type of factors related to functional recoveries of patients with BAD may be different from other types of stroke. The present study suggested that clinical category of stroke should be taken into consideration in prediction of outcomes and planning of rehabilitation management.

Background Thrombosis is a dynamic process, and a thrombus undergoes physical and biochemical changes that may alter its response to reperfusion therapy. This study assessed whether thrombus age influenced reperfusion quality and outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy for cerebral embolism. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 185 stroke patients and thrombi that were collected during mechanical thrombectomy at three stroke centers. Thrombi were pathologically classified as fresh or older based on their granulocytes' nuclear morphology and organization. Thrombus components were quantified, and the extent of NETosis (the process of neutrophil extracellular trap formation) was assessed using the density of citrullinated histone H3-positive cells. Baseline patient characteristics, thrombus features, endovascular procedures, and functional outcomes were compared according to thrombus age. Results Fresh thrombi were acquired from 43 patients, and older thrombi were acquired from 142 patients. Older thrombi had a lower erythrocyte content (p Conclusion An older thrombus delays reperfusion after mechanical thrombectomy for ischemic stroke. Adding therapies targeting thrombus maturation may improve the efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy.

Research to improve the dimensional properties of silver nanowires (Ag NWs) for transparent conductive film (TCF) applications are being carried out intensively. However, the protocol for the designed synthesis of high-quality Ag NWs is yet to be developed due to the inadequacy of knowledge on the role of parameters. Here, we attempt to elucidate the role played by the parameters and propose a monoalcohol-copolymer based system for the designed synthesis of Ag NWs superior in quality to the one synthesized using conventional ethylene glycol (EG)-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) system. The key findings of the study are as follows: (1) the solubility of Ag source and the partially formed AgCl particles in monoalcohols was found to play an important role not only in the reduction to metallic Ag but also on the uniaxial growth, (2) the adsorption of capping agents on Ag NWs was carried through O and N atoms in the base molecule and their binding energies indicated that the strength is the key parameter to obtain Ag NWs with high aspect ratio, (3) the properties of nanowire could be enhanced through copolymerization of VP and base molecules that have O- and N-based ligands, and (4) the influence of copolymerization on the physical and chemical properties of the surface active agent has been theoretically and experimentally verified. Consequently, we succeeded in the development of a new technique to synthesize high yield of Ag NWs with improved aspect ratio than EG-PVP system by using benzyl alcohol as reducing solvent and N-vinylpyrrolidone/N,N-diethylaminoethyl metacrylate copolymer as a capping agent. The optical transmittance and electrical resistivity of TCFs prepared using the Ag NWs with an average diameter of 43 nm, and an average length of 13 μm were 98.6% and R: 49.1 Ω/□, respectively.

In order to improve the plating efficiency on spinach mesophyll protoplast culture, various conditions were examined with four cvs. of spinach, four cvs. of chard and one cv. of tablebeet. 1. Mesophyll protoplasts of these test plants were isolated from the in vitro-grown young seedlings by treatment of the enzyme solution containing 2 % Cellulase Onozuka RS, 0.5 % Cellulase Onozuka R-10,0.5 % Macerozyme R-10,0.02 % Pectolyase Y-23,CPW salts, 0.1 % MES and 0.5 M sorbitol (pH 5.8) for 4-11 hours. 2. The cell division and colony formation of spinach cv. 'SHINNIPPON' occurred only in a modified MS medium (No. 3) containing 1 mg/l NAA, 1 mg/l 2,4-D and 1 mg/l BA in five combinations of growth regulators. 3. The cell division and colony formation of protoplasts only occurred in all spinach cvs., but not in chard and tablebeet in No. 3 medium. 4. The frequency of cell division and colony formation in spinach cv. 'F_1 SHINRYOKU' increased to DMSO concentration. Plating efficiency of the medium containing 1.0 % DMSO (14.7 %) was much higher than that of the medium without DMSO (3.2 %) . 5. We now plan to induce plant regeneration from the thus obtained callus.

Infrastructure investment has high economic returns, especially in ASEAN economies where enhanced connectivity is critical for their continued prosperity. Each member government needs to ensure infrastructure gaps are narrowed through both the government’s own funding and public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements. With regard to PPP projects, the best way to attract private participants is to make projects commercially viable through: (i) careful project development carried out (or advised) by high caliber experts; (ii) adequate spending on project development; and (iii) improvements in the PPP-readiness of member countries in terms of legal, regulatory and institutional environment. We propose that a center of excellence for PPP-related investments be established advising each government and its PPP-units on project selection and development—and carrying out project development for cross-border PPP projects. The center should be staffed with private sector experts or those with private business experience and consider ASEAN regional priorities. Donors should help substantially—given the high growth and poverty reduction impact that infrastructure development has. Too much focus on the funding aspect alone could be counterproductive. However, recognizing the increased risk aversion of the capital markets around the world as a result of the international financial crisis of 2008-09 and the introduction of Basel III, we propose that a new financial instrument be considered that reduces the perceived risk of PPP projects. There should be some lessons to be learnt from the initiatives of project bond credit enhancement started by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which has been received positively by the market.

In the previous paper, the authors (1960) divided 'the sexual characters in spinach into two categories, "growth and sexual habit ", and announced that some differences in the growth habit make it possible to classify sexuality into three patterns, two are males with XY chromosomes, called the the bracted :male (B ♂ ) with XYB and the leafy male (L ♂ ) with XYL, and the third pattern is female (♀) with XX. It was also reported that the bisexual plant with both male and female flowers occurs in the two patterns, other than B♂ . A bisexual intersex from L♂ is named " andromonoeclous " and another int-ersex from♀ named " gynomonoecious ".

To examine if the resistance of soybean to Heterodera glycines would differ at Kariwano and Kikyogahara, four experiments were conducted at these places under the same design, in which two nematode-populations from Kariwano (A) and Kikyogahara (B) were inoculated to the plant of cliffererit resistant varieties cultured in pot. The cyst formation of the nematode were more with the population B than with A most distinctly in the medium resistant varieties, and the damages of plant were greater with the population B than with A in the weaker resistant varieties. The two populations should belong to different physiological strains of the nematode.