The gut bacterium Gordonibacter urolithinfaciens DSM 27213 metabolizes ellagic acid into three polyphenol compounds, namely, urolithin M5, urolithin M6, and urolithin C, which are collectively called ...urolithin. The key reactions of this metabolic pathway are the dehydroxylation of the phenolic hydroxy group, i.e., conversion of urolithin M5 to urolithin M6, and successive conversion of urolithin M6 to urolithin C. By testing the effects of various electron-transferring compounds on the dehydroxylation reactions, methylviologen was found to effectively support the dehydroxylation catalyzed by the cell free extracts. The urolithin dehydroxylating enzymes were found in the soluble fraction of the cell free extracts. The urolithin dehydroxylation was found to be coupled with reduction of dicationic methylviologen to a cation radical form catalyzed by enzymes with hydrogen as an electron donor, which was also found with the soluble fraction. Further investigation of the reaction in the presence of natural cofactors with or without methylviologen and hydrogen revealed the involvement of NADPH and FAD in the electron transportation systems of the urolithin dehydroxylation.
Background: Massage has been practiced since around 3 months of age for the purpose of interacting with children, but there are few reports on its ongoing effectiveness, no unified views, and few ...reports on growth and development.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of massage given by mothers to their 3-month-old infants based on autonomic activity and growth development of 4- and 5-month-old infants one month later.
Methods: The subjects were healthy 3-month-old infants and their mothers who were born as full-term, singleton babies. The study design was an inequivalent control group design: 25 mother-child pairs were massaged for one month and 12 mother-child pairs were not massaged. Data were collected twice, once on the first day at 3 months of age and one month later. As indicators of autonomic nervous system activity, axillary temperature before and after massage, heart rate and heart rate variability during massage were measured. As an indicator of growth, body weight was measured after the massage. As an indicator of development, mothers were asked to respond to a questionnaire (KIDS). The axillary temperature, rate of change in heart rate and heart rate variability, and KIDS scores were compared on the first day and one month later.
Results: Axillary temperature and LF/HF ratio of children at 1 month were significantly lower after massage (p<0.05). Overall developmental age and expressive language domain of KIDS at 1 month were more developmental than in the non-massage group (p<0.05). Heart rate and HF were not significantly different after 1 month.
Conclusion: It was found that when children received massage from their mothers for one-month, cardiac sympathetic nerve function was suppressed and the development of expressive language skills was promoted.
The mammalian HSP105/110 family consists of four members, including Hsp105 and Apg‐1, which function as molecular chaperones. Recently, we reported that Hsp105 knockdown increases sensitivity to the ...DNA‐damaging agent Adriamycin but decreases sensitivity to the microtubule‐targeting agent paclitaxel. However, whether the other Hsp105/110 family proteins have the same functional property is unknown. Here, we show that Apg‐1 has different roles from Hsp105 in cell proliferation, cell division, and drug sensitivity. We generated the Apg‐1‐knockdown HeLa S3 cells by lentiviral expression of Apg‐1‐targeting short hairpin RNA. Knockdown of Apg‐1 but not Hsp105 decreased cell proliferation. Apg‐1 knockdown increased cell death upon Adriamycin treatment without affecting paclitaxel sensitivity. The cell synchronization experiment suggests that Apg‐1 functions in mitotic progression at a different mitotic subphase from Hsp105, which cause difference in paclitaxel sensitivity. Since Apg‐1 is overexpressed in certain types of tumors, Apg‐1 may become a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment without causing resistance to the microtubule‐targeting agents.
In this study, we show that Apg‐1 has different roles from Hsp105 in cell proliferation, cell division, and drug sensitivity
This study evaluates the association between Internal Addiction (IA) and psychiatric co-morbidity in the literature.
Meta-analyses were conducted on cross-sectional, case-control and cohort studies ...which examined the relationship between IA and psychiatric co-morbidity. Selected studies were extracted from major online databases. The inclusion criteria are as follows: 1) studies conducted on human subjects; 2) IA and psychiatric co-morbidity were assessed by standardised questionnaires; and 3) availability of adequate information to calculate the effect size. Random-effects models were used to calculate the aggregate prevalence and the pooled odds ratios (OR).
Eight studies comprising 1641 patients suffering from IA and 11210 controls were included. Our analyses demonstrated a significant and positive association between IA and alcohol abuse (OR = 3.05, 95% CI = 2.14-4.37, z = 6.12, P < 0.001), attention deficit and hyperactivity (OR = 2.85, 95% CI = 2.15-3.77, z = 7.27, P < 0.001), depression (OR = 2.77, 95% CI = 2.04-3.75, z = 6.55, P < 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 2.70, 95% CI = 1.46-4.97, z = 3.18, P = 0.001).
IA is significantly associated with alcohol abuse, attention deficit and hyperactivity, depression and anxiety.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Cathode materials are essential for enhancing electrocatalytic activity in energy-conversion devices. Carbon is one of the most suitable cathodic materials for Li–O
2
batteries owing to its ...chemical and thermal stability. Carbon materials synthesized from tributyl borate (TBB) using a nonthermal solution plasma method were characterized using x‐ray diffraction, Raman, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and were evaluated as additive materials for cathodes in a Li–O
2
battery. Two separate carbon materials were formed at the same time, a carbon dispersed in solution and a carbon precipitate at the bottom of the reactor, which had amorphous and graphite-like structures, respectively. The amorphous carbon contained boron and tungsten carbide, and the graphite-like carbon had more defects and electronic conductivity. The crystallinity and density of defects in the graphite-like carbon could be tuned by changing the SP operating frequency. The Li–O
2
battery with the amorphous carbon containing boron and tungsten carbide was found to have a high capacity, while the one with the graphite-like carbon showed an affinity for the formation of Li
2
O
2
, which is the desired discharge product, and exhibited high cycling performance.
Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) causes an insult to the central nervous system, often resulting in devastating temporary or permanent neurological impairment and disability, which places a ...substantial financial burden on the health-care system. This study aimed to clarify the up-to-date epidemiology and demographics of patients with TSCI treated at the largest SCI center in Japan. Data on all patients admitted to the Spinal Injuries Center with TSCI between May 2005 and December 2021 were prospectively collected using a customized, locally designed SCI database named the Japan Single Center Study for Spinal Cord Injury Database (JSSCI-DB). A total of 1152 patients were identified from the database. The study period was divided into the four- or five-year periods of 2005-2009, 2010-2013, 2014-2017, and 2018-2021 to facilitate the observation of general trends over time. Our results revealed a statistically significant increasing trend in age at injury. Since 2014, the average age of injury has increased to exceed 60 years. The most frequent spinal level affected by the injury was high cervical (C1-C4: 45.8%), followed by low cervical (C5-C8: 26.4%). Incomplete tetraplegia was the most common cause or etiology category of TSCI, accounting for 48.4% of cases. As the number of injuries among the elderly has increased, the injury mechanisms have shifted from high-fall trauma and traffic accidents to falls on level surfaces and downstairs. Incomplete tetraplegia in the elderly due to upper cervical TSCI has also increased over time. The percentage of injured patients with an etiology linked to alcohol use ranged from 13.2% (2005-2008) to 19% (2014-2017). Given that Japan has one of the highest aging populations in the world, epidemiological studies in this country will be very helpful in determining health insurance and medical costs and deciding strategies for the prevention and treatment of TSCI in future aging populations worldwide.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Taste perception is influenced by both nutritional factors and psychological factors. This study was undertaken to measure the 4 basic taste perceptions, nutrient intake, and mental health, and to ...examine the factors that affect insensitive taste perception in young Japanese women.
Young women in their late teens and twenties were enrolled as subjects. Taste perception was measured by applying the filter-paper disc method over areas of the chorda tympani nerve. Nutritional status was evaluated using brief, self-administered diet history questionnaires. The index of nutritional status was based on the 2015 Japanese dietary reference intakes. Mental health was assessed using the Japanese translation of the Profile of Mood States short version. This study was approved by the ethical committee at Osaka University.
The normal taste perception group (four basic tastes sweet, salty, sour, and bitter identified as normal taste perception) comprised 55.4% of the subjects, while the abnormal taste perception group (more than 1 abnormal taste perception was perceived, regardless of flavor) comprised 44.6% of the subjects. There were no significant differences in nutrient intake (except manganese) and mental health between the normal and abnormal taste perception groups. Subjects who took 5 mg to less than 7.1 mg zinc per day were at significantly decreased risk of insensitive taste perception compared to subjects who consumed less than 5 mg zinc per day Regression coefficient 0.831, 95% confidence interval 0.694-0.996.
The present results suggest that insensitive taste perception could be associated with zinc deficiency in young women in their late teens and twenties.
Cruciferous vegetables are rich sources of glucosinolates (GSLs). GSLs are degraded into isothiocyanates, which are potent anticarcinogens, by human gut bacteria. However, the mechanisms and enzymes ...involved in gut bacteria-mediated GSL metabolism are currently unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the enzymes involved in GSL metabolism in lactic acid bacteria, a type of gut bacteria. Companilactobacillus farciminis KB1089 was selected as a lactic acid bacteria strain model that metabolizes sinigrin, which is a GSL, into allylisothiocyanate. The sinigrin-metabolizing activity of this strain is induced under glucose-absent and sinigrin-present conditions. A quantitative comparative proteomic analysis was conducted and a total of 20 proteins that were specifically expressed in the induced cells were identified. Three candidate proteins, β-glucoside-specific IIB, IIC, IIA phosphotransferase system (PTS) components (CfPttS), 6-phospho-β-glucosidase (CfPbgS) and a hypothetical protein (CfNukS), were suspected to be involved in sinigrin-metabolism and were thus investigated further. We hypothesize a pathway for sinigrin degradation, wherein sinigrin is taken up and phosphorylated by CfPttS, and subsequently, the phosphorylated entity is degraded by CfPbgS. As expression of both pttS and pbgS genes clearly gave Escherichia coli host strain sinigrin converting activity, these genes were suggested to be responsible for sinigrin degradation. Furthermore, heterologous expression analysis using Lactococcus lactis suggested that CfPttS was important for sinigrin degradation and CfPbgS degraded phosphorylated sinigrin.
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