The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether biochemical markers of bone turnover predict bone loss. The survey was carried out in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. From a list of inhabitants ...aged 40-79 years, 400 participants (50 men and 50 women in each of four age groups) were selected randomly. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured, and blood and urine samples of all participants were examined to obtain values for eight biochemical markers: alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bone Gla protein (BGP), type I procollagen (carboxyterminal peptide of type I procollagen; PICP), cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide region of type I collagen (ICTP), and urinary excretion of calcium (Ca), phosphate (P), pyridinoline (Pyr), and deoxypyridinoline (D-Pyr). Each marker was evaluated as a predictor of the rate of bone change in lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD over a 3-year period. The value of Pyr was significantly related to the change of lumbar spine BMD in men (P = 0.009), and that of BGP was found to be significant in women (P = 0.045). By contrast, none of the bone markers significantly correlated with bone loss at the femoral neck. The coefficient of determination at the lumbar spine was 5% and 7% at the femoral neck only. We conclude that biochemical markers of bone turnover cannot predict bone loss rates in middle-aged or elderly Japanese men and women over a 3-year period with sufficient accuracy for use in clinical decision making.
Individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP) experience changes in gait control due to pain and/or fear. Although CLBP patients' gait has been performed in laboratory environments, changes in gait ...control as an adaptation to unstructured daily living environments may be more pronounced than the corresponding changes in laboratory environments. We investigated the impacts of the environment and pathology on the trunk variability and stability of gait in CLBP patients.
CLBP patients (n=20) and healthy controls with no low-back pain history (n=20) were tasked with walking in a laboratory or daily-living environment while wearing an accelerometer on the low back. We calculated the stride-to-stride standard deviation and multiscale sample entropy as indices of "gait variability" and the maximum Lyapunov exponent as an index of "gait stability" in both the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions. The participants were assessed on the numerical rating scale for pain intensity, the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire for quality of life (QOL).
In a repeated-measures ANOVA, the standard deviation was affected by environment in the anterior-posterior direction and by group and environment in the medial-lateral direction. Multiscale sample entropy showed no effect in the anterior-posterior direction and showed both effects in the medial-lateral direction. Maximum Lyapunov exponents showed both effects in the anterior-posterior direction, but none in the medial-lateral direction. These changes of trunk motor control by CLBP patients were found to be related to pain intensity, fear of movement, and/or QOL in the daily-living environment but not in the laboratory environment.
These results revealed that CLBP patients exhibit changes in trunk variability and stability of gait depending on the environment, and they demonstrated that these changes are related to pain, fear, and QOL. We propose useful accelerometer-based assessments of qualitative gait in CLBP patients' daily lives, as it would provide information not available in a general practice setting.
Phospholipase D (PLD) was purified to high homogeneity from rice bran (Oryza sativa L.). Two peaks of PLD activity were resolved by Mono Q anion-exchange chromatography. The molecular mass of PLD in ...both peaks was 82 kDa on SDS-PAGE and 78 kDa in gel filtration. Antibodies raised against the protein in one of the peaks precipitated the enzyme activities in both peaks. Enzymatic characteristics of PLD in the two peaks were identical except for a difference of 0.1 in the isoelectric points. Sequence analysis covering more than 10% of the amino acids of the proteins and peptide mapping did not detect any difference in the primary structure of the proteins. A cDNA for PLD was isolated from rice and it encoded a protein of 812 residues. The N-terminal sequences of purified PLDs matched the deduced amino acid sequence starting from residue 47. A Northern blot showed this gene was expressed in leaves, roots, developing seeds and cultured cells, and a Southern blot detected a single band of rice genomic DNA hybridizing to the cDNA. A cDNA for PLD was also isolated from maize. The similarity of the deduced amino acid sequences of PLD was 90% between rice and maize, 73% between the cereals and castor bean.
The cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between pain-related factors and muscle activity in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) are unclear. This study aimed to examine the temporal ...associations between them in a CLBP patient using a single-case analysis to account for an individual course.
A patient with a history of lower back pain lasting more than 3 months was studied from March 16, 2020 to May 30, 2020. Surface electromyographic signals were recorded from over the bilateral lumbar erector spinae in the patient while performing a standing trunk flexion and re-extension task. The average value for muscle activity during each movement phase was estimated, and the flexion relaxation ratio (FRR) of all channels was subsequently calculated. Pain-related factors and disability were assessed using questionnaires. All assessments were performed nine times, along with 2-3 months of intervention. Once or twice per week, the patient received physical therapy that consisted of soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, nerve mobilization, and patient education. A cross-lag correlation analysis of this single case was conducted.
Pain-related factors showed a trend toward improvements in all variables when compared to those in the first assessment; however, there was no general change (increase) in FRR over time. The cross-lag correlation analysis revealed that improvements in FRR were associated with improvements in body perception disturbance (
= -0.78, p < 0.01), and that improvements in muscle activity during the extension phase were associated with improvements in pain (
= 0.75), psychological factors (
= 0.57), and disability (
= 0.67) (p < 0.05).
Our findings suggest that improvements in body perception were temporally associated with improvements in FRR, and improvements in pain, psychological factors, and disability were temporally associated with a reduction in muscle activity during the trunk extension phase in this patient with CLBP.
The objective of this study was to assess the rate of bone loss and characterize its determinants, among the inhabitants of Taiji, a rural Japanese community. A cohort of 2261 inhabitants aged 40-79 ...years was established using resident registration in 1992. Fifty men and 50 women in each of four age strata between 40 and 79 years were randomly selected and completed a self-administered risk factor questionnaire. Baseline bone density of lumbar spine and proximal femur was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 1993. BMD was measured again on the same participants in 1996. The rates of change of lumbar spine BMD in men in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s were 0.20%, 0.34%, 0.43% and 0.28% respectively. Rates in women were -0.35%, -1.02%, -0.10% and -0.20% respectively. At the femoral neck, rates of change in BMD among men in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s were 0.09%, -0.07%, 0.34% and 0.31% respectively. Femoral neck rates of change among women were -0.55%, 0.02%, 0.49% and -0.25% respectively. The rate of change of lumbar spine BMD was -0.24% in premenopausal women with regular periods, -1.99% in premenopausal women with irregular periods and -0.33% in postmenopausal women. Anthropometric measurements at baseline were also related significantly to change in bone density. Baseline weight and height were statistically significant predictors of bone loss rate. These data provide estimates of the rate of bone loss among Japanese men and women aged 40-79 years. They suggest that body build and menstrual function in women are important determinants of bone loss.
A woman in her thirties developed complex regional pain syndrome in her left shoulder due to a traffic accident. She demonstrated autonomic nervous symptoms (swelling, sweating, and skin color ...asymmetry) in her left hand, severe allodynia, neglect-like symptoms (NLS), impaired body image associated with impaired body awareness, and functional impairment of the left shoulder and elbow. She also reported physical self-disgust toward her affected limb, describing it as "reptilian," as well as aversion to touching others; this body awareness exacerbated her pain and NLS. We therefore conducted stepwise interventions using body shadows. The intervention did not trigger physical self-disgust, enabling formation of body ownership and a body image unaccompanied by pain. Consequently, the patient showed improvements in pain, NLS, and autonomic nervous symptoms.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has an analgesic effect and increases the peak alpha frequency (PAF) on electroencephalography. The analgesic effect of tDCS also appears to be greater ...when combined with another intervention (e.g. motor imagery), compared to tDCS alone. Aerobic exercise (AE) itself was reportedly effective for decreasing pain sensivity. Therefore, we hypothesize that tDCS/AE would exert a larger analgesic effect that tDSC alone, or sham tDCS/AE.
Ten healthy adults participated in this study under three conditions: tDCS, tDCS/AE, or sham tDCS/AE. All conditions were performed over a single session. For tDCS, the anode was placed just above the left primary motor cortex and the stimulation intensity was 2mA for 20min. AE was carried out using an ergometer at an intensity of 50%∼60% for 20min. We used a measure of pressure pain threshold (PPT) on the right middle finger to investigate the effects of interventions. PPT was measured at pre-intervention and at every 5min and post-15min. We recorded resting-state electroencephalography for 3min, both before and after the intervention. PAF was defined as the frequency with the highest mean power within the alpha band. Statistical analyses included the Friedman and Wilcoxon signed rank tests, Bonferroni correction, and the level of statistical significance was set at 5%. This study was approved by our institution's ethics committee.
Significant differences were found in PPT among the three conditions at all time points. On post-hoc testing, PPT increases during tDCS/AE were earlier and higher magnitude than other two conditions. No significant differences were found in PAF.
The combined intervention of tDCS/AE exerted analgesic effects that manifested earlier, and at a higher magnitude, than those produced during the other two conditions. However, PAF did not significantly vary among the three conditions.
We quantitatively examined the motor imagery ability using bimanual circle-line coordination task (BCT) in stroke patients and clarified the relationship between motor imagery ability and motor ...function of hemiplegic upper limbs and amount of the use of paralyzed limbs.
Thirty-one stroke patients participated. Tasks included unimanual-line (UL) which involved drawing a straight line on the non-paralyzed side, and imagery circle-line (ICL) which involved drawing a straight line on the non-paralyzed side, during imagery drawing on the paralyzed side using a tablet PC. Each task was carried out in 3 sets of 12seconds. Drawn linear trajectory was decomposed at every cycle and ovalization was calculated using the formula: Ovalization Index (OI)=Standard deviation of X axis/Standard deviation of Y axis×100(%). The value obtained by subtracting OI of UL from OI of ICL was defined as the ability of motor imagery (ImageOI). Fugl–Meyer motor assessment (FMA), amount of use (AOU), and quality of motion (QOM) of motor activity log (MAL) were the 3 variables used for cluster analysis. The explanation variable was Image OI, parametric variables were AOU and QOM, and the objective variable was FMA, and mediation analysis was performed.
Cluster 1 (FMA<26 points) and Cluster 2 (FMA ≥ 26 points) were formed. In Cluster 2, significant single correlations were found between ImageOI and FMA, AOU, and QOM. When AOU and QOM were mediated between ImageOI and FMA, there was no significant direct correlation between ImageOI and FMA, and a significant indirect effect of AOU and QOM was observed (P<0.01, bootstrap method).
In stroke patients with moderate to mild movement disorder, the motor imagery ability directly affects the amount of use of hemiplegic upper limbs and their quality of motion in daily life. Moreover, it indirectly influences the motor functions via those parameters.
An advanced model to describe the viscosity for liquid metals is presented by examining the Enskog formula of the viscosity for dense gases with an adoption of the viscous activation picture. The ...model essentially involves only one adjustable parameter, the activation energy, to the experimental viscosities. It is suggested that the activation energy roughly corresponds to the maximum depth in the attractive part of the pair potential for liquid metals, so that some feature of the pair potential may be speculated by use of the Born–Green formula of the viscosity for liquids with the experimental viscosities and radial distribution functions. The model is applied to ten cases of mono-atomic liquid metals of Cu, Ag, Zn, Cd, Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Sb, and Bi. One finds that the model describes the overall experimental data of the viscosity in a wide range of temperature, and that the speculated pair potentials are in accord with some characteristics of liquid metals. The pair potentials speculated for Cu and Ag are comparable with those derived by some other methods based on the analysis for the solid characters of these elements.
PDF
