Randomized controlled comparative study on effect of training to improve lower limb motor paralysis in convalescent patients with post-stroke hemiplegia

[Purpose] The motor paralysis-improving effect on the hemiplegic lower limb was compared among mirror therapy, integrated volitional-control electrical stimulation, therapeutic electrical stimulation, repetitive facilitative exercises, and the standard training method in post-stroke hemiplegia patients. [Subjects and Methods] Eighty one stroke patients admitted to a convalescent rehabilitation ward were randomly allocated to the above 5 treatment groups. Each patient performed functional training of the paralytic lower limb for 20 minutes a day for 4 weeks, and changes in the lower limb function were investigated using the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set. [Results] The hip and knee joint functions did not significantly improve in the standard training control group, but significant improvements were observed after 4 weeks in the other intervention groups. Significant improvement was noted in the ankle joint function in all groups. [Conclusion] Although the results were influenced by spontaneous recovery and the standard training in the control group, the hip and knee joints were more markedly improved by the interventions in the other 4 groups of patients with moderate paralysis, compared to the control group.

Parallel chemical switches underlying pollinator isolation in Asian Mitella

Floral scents are among the key signals used by pollinators to navigate to specific flowers. Thus, evolutionary changes in scents should have strong impacts on plant diversification, although scent-mediated plant speciation through pollinator shifts has rarely been demonstrated, despite being likely. To examine whether and how scent-mediated plant speciation may have occurred, we investigated the Asimitellaria plant lineage using multidisciplinary approaches including pollinator observations, chemical analyses of the floral scents, electroantennographic analyses and behavioural bioassays with the pollinators. We also performed phylogenetically independent contrast analyses of the pollinator/floral scent associations. First, we confirmed that the pairs of the sympatric, cross-fertile Asimitellaria species in three study sites consistently attract different pollinators, namely long-tongued and short-tongued fungus gnats. We also found that a stereoisomeric set of floral volatiles, the lilac aldehydes, could be responsible for the pollinator specificity. This is because the compounds consistently elicited responses in the antennae of the long-tongued fungus gnats and had contrasting effects on the two pollinators, that is triggering the nectaring behaviour of long-tongued fungus gnats while repelling short-tongued fungus gnats in a laboratory experiment. Moreover, we discovered that volatile composition repeatedly switched in Asimitellaria between species adapted to long-tongued and short-tongued fungus gnats. Collectively, our results support the idea that recurrent scent-mediated speciation has taken place in the Asimitellaria–fungus gnat system.

A retrospective observational study to assess adverse transfusion reactions of patients with and without prior transfusion history

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This study compares the frequency of adverse transfusion reactions (ATRs) after first transfusions with the frequency of ATRs for subsequent (non-first) transfusions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Five hospitals agreed to systematically collect and share 2 years of data. This was a retrospective observational analysis of data including the number of transfusion episodes and ATRs for red blood cells (RBCs), fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and platelet concentrates (PCs) given to first-time transfusion recipients and to those previously transfused.

RESULTS

First transfusion ATRs to RBCs, FFP and PCs were 1.08%, 2.84% and 3.34%, respectively. These are higher than ATR incidences to RBCs (0.69%), FFP (1.91%) and PCs (2.75%) on subsequent transfusions. Specifically, first transfusion incidences of febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTRs) to RBCs (0.43%) and allergic reactions to FFP (2.51%) were higher than on subsequent transfusions (RBCs: 0.23%, FFP: 1.65%).

CONCLUSION

There are risks of ATRs on the first transfusion as well as transfusions of patients with transfusion history.

OX40 and IL-7 play synergistic roles in the homeostatic proliferation of effector memory CD4⁺ T cells

T-cell homeostasis preserves the numbers, the diversity and functional competence of different T-cell subsets that are required for adaptive immunity. Naïve CD4(+) T (TN ) cells are maintained in the periphery via the common γ-chain family cytokine IL-7 and weak antigenic signals. However, it is not clear how memory CD4(+) T-cell subsets are maintained in the periphery and which factors are responsible for the maintenance. To examine the homeostatic mechanisms, CFSE-labeled CD4(+) CD44(high) CD62L(low) effector memory T (TEM ) cells were transferred into sublethally-irradiated syngeneic C57BL/6 mice, and the systemic cell proliferative responses, which can be divided distinctively into fast and slow proliferations, were assessed by CFSE dye dilution. We found that the fast homeostatic proliferation of TEM cells was strictly regulated by both antigen and OX40 costimulatory signals and that the slow proliferation was dependent on IL-7. The simultaneous blockade of both OX40 and IL-7 signaling completely inhibited the both fast and slow proliferation. The antigen- and OX40-dependent fast proliferation preferentially expanded IL-17-producing helper T cells (Th17 cells). Thus, OX40 and IL-7 play synergistic, but distinct roles in the homeostatic proliferation of CD4(+) TEM cells.

Plasma protein adsorption to nanofabricated fluorinated polyimide surface

In this article, a series of fluorinated polyimides rubbed at different pressures was prepared, and the plasma protein adsorption on the rubbed polyimide films was evaluated using a micro-bicinchoninic acid protein assay. Interestingly, the amount of plasma protein adsorbed on the polyimide surface strongly depended on the rubbing pressure. The amounts of BSA and Fbg adsorbed on the rubbed polyimide film significantly decreased with an increase in the rubbing pressure. In contrast, the amounts of IgG adsorbed on the rubbed film dramatically increased with an increase in the rubbing pressure. In particular, it is interesting to note that a specific adsorption surface for IgG is formed by the rubbing process. We proposed that the nano-ordered hydrophilic and hydrophobic patternings formed on the top and bottom surfaces on the rubbed fluorinated polyimide film might have a significant influence on the plasma protein adsorption.

Separation of EEG and ECG components based on wavelet shrinkage and variable cosine window

During ambulatory monitoring, it is sometimes required to record an electroencephalogram (EEG) and an electrocardiogram (ECG) simultaneously. It would be ideal if both EEG and ECG could be obtained with one measurement. Here, we introduce an algorithm that combines the wavelet shrinkage and variable cosine window operation to separate the EEG and ECG components from an EEG signal recorded with a noncephalic reference (NCR). Evaluation using simulated data and actual measured data showed that accurate frequency analysis of EEG and an R-R detection-based heart rate analysis were feasible with our proposed algorithm, which improved the signal-averaging based algorithm so that ECG components containing ectopic beats can be applied.

Local microbleeding facilitates IL-6- and IL-17-dependent arthritis in the absence of tissue antigen recognition by activated T cells

Local microbleeding induces the accumulation of Th17 cells and the development of IL-17– and IL-6–dependent arthritis in the absence of cognate antigen recognition by CD4⁺ T cells.

Cognate antigen recognition by CD4⁺ T cells is thought to contribute to the tissue specificity of various autoimmune diseases, particularly those associated with class II MHC alleles. However, we show that localized class II MHC–dependent arthritis in F759 mice depends on local events that result in the accumulation of activated CD4⁺ T cells in the absence of cognate antigen recognition. In this model, transfer of in vitro polarized Th17 cells combined with the induction of experimental microbleeding resulted in CCL20 production, the accumulation of T cells in the joints, and local production of IL-6. Disease induction required IL-17A production by transferred T cells, IL-6 and CCL20 expression, and STAT3 signaling in type I collagen–expressing cells. Our data suggest a model in which the development of autoimmune disease in F759 mice depends on four events: CD4⁺ T cell activation regardless of antigen specificity, local events that induce T cell accumulation, enhanced sensitivity to T cell–derived cytokines in the tissue, and activation of IL-6 signaling in the tissue. This model provides a possible explanation for why tissue-specific antigens recognized by activated CD4⁺ T cells have not been identified in many autoimmune diseases, especially those associated with class II MHC molecules.