Miyamoto, N, Kanehisa, H, Fukunaga, T, and Kawakami, Y. Effect of postactivation potentiation on the maximal voluntary isokinetic concentric torque in humans. J Strength Cond Res 24(x): 000-000, 2010-The purpose of this study was to examine whether postactivation potentiation (PAP) influences dynamic torque development in humans. Nine recreationally active men performed sets of 3 maximal isokinetic concentric plantar flexions at 180 degrees/second in the following sequence: before and immediately (5 seconds) after a 10-second maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and then every 1 minute until the 5-minute point, followed by 1 more stimulation at the 10-minute point. Twitch responses were recorded before every set of 3 concentric contractions to examine whether the PAP exists. The twitch and concentric torques were potentiated at 0 through 5 minutes and 1 through 3 minutes post-MVC, respectively (p < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in concentric torque in the control (without MVC) condition (p > 0.05). For electromyographic signals during concentric contractions, muscle activity of the medial gastrocnemius was significantly depressed only immediately after the conditioning MVC (p < 0.05). These results indicate that a brief maximal voluntary isometric contraction enhances voluntary dynamic performance through PAP, within proper recovery interval. From a practical point of view, in sports activities we suggest undertaking PAP through high-intensity contractions 1 to 3 minutes before voluntary ballistic or plyometric actions for improved performance.

This is a report of fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-18-FDG PET/CT) findings in a case of T-cell lymphoma-associated hemophagocytic syndrome, with "periportal low attenuation" and edematous gall-bladder wall thickening. FDG PET/CT showed diffuse intense FDG uptake in the enlarged liver and spleen, with systemic FDG-avid lymphadenopathy including the hepatic hilar nodes. Fused plain CT and subsequent contrast-enhanced CT showed no hepatic parenchymal architectural abnormality but periportal low attenuation and edematous gallbladder wall thickening without FDG uptake. The second FDG PET/CT at 6 months after chemoimmunotherapy showed disappearance of the systemic abnormal FDG uptake including the enlarged hepatic hilar nodes and periportal/gall bladder abnormalities, with improvement of hepatosplenomegaly and laboratory data. This case suggests that FDG PET/CT is useful for detecting hepatic involvement of lymphoma and secondary-activated histiocytes causing a hemophagocytic syndrome, and that periportal low attenuation and an edematous gallbladder wall can be an indirect sign of lymphatic obstruction caused by FDG-avid hepatic hilar lymphadenopathy.

Abstract Background and Aims: We investigated the efficacy of intra-arterial 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and systemic interferon (IFN)-alpha (5-FU-IFN) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis in the first branch or trunk (Vp3/4) and extrahepatic metastases. Methods: We examined 17 HCC patients with Vp3/4 and extrahepatic metastases (meta group) and 31 HCC patients with Vp3/4 (non-meta group). Baseline intrahepatic tumor factors and the hepatic reserve were similar between groups. The extrahepatic metastases of the meta group were not considered prognostic factors. Following the administration of 5-FU/IFN to all patients, we compared the survival rates, response, time to progression (TTP), and safety between groups. Results: For intrahepatic HCC, complete response, partial response, stable disease, progressive disease, and drop out were observed in no (0%), one (6%), seven (41%), nine (53%), and no (0%) patients of the meta group, and in five (16%), seven (23%), 13 (42%), five (16%) and one (3%) patient of the non-meta group, respectively. The response rate was significantly lower in the meta group (6% vs 39%, P = 0.018). The median TTP of intrahepatic HCC and the median survival time were significantly shorter in the meta group than in the non-meta group (1.6 vs 6.3 months, P = 0.0001, and 3.9 months vs 10.5 months, P < 0.0001, respectively). The multivariate analysis showed that the absence of extrahepatic metastases was a significant and independent determinant of both TTP of intrahepatic HCC (P < 0.001) and overall survival (P < 0.001). No patient died of extrahepatic HCC-related disease. Conclusions: The efficacy of 5-FU/IFN for advanced HCC with Vp3/4 and extrahepatic metastases was markedly limited.

Theophylline can induce life-threatening seizures in humans, especially in infants, but the mechanism of induction remains unknown. We investigated the effects of orally administered theophylline on mouse electroencephalograms (EEGs). ddY mice, which are generally completely free of seizures, were used for the experiments. While EEGs, used as controls, showed no paroxysmal spike discharges, theophylline induced clear spike discharges. This study demonstrated that theophylline administered at doses that achieve low serum concentrations can cause spike discharges in mouse EEGs even without causing clinical seizures, indicating that theophylline plays a potent role in subclinical epileptogenicity.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were isolated from 45 of 370 (12.2%) cockroaches captured in hospitals. By cockroach species, the bacterial strains were isolated from 39 of 181 (21.5%) Periplaneta fuliginosa and 6 of 183 (3.3%) Blattella germanica, showing a significant difference (p<0.01). Many P. aeruginosa-carrying cockroaches inhabited locker rooms (66.7%) and kitchens (17.8%). In terms of serotyping, many isolates were typed into groups A, G, and B. In drug sensitivity tests, strains showed the highest sensitivity to ciprofloxacin with an MIC90 of 0.25 microg/ml, followed by 2 microg/ml meropenem, and 4 microg/ml ceftazidime, gentamicin, and ofloxacin. In contrast, many strains were resistant to cefotaxime and minocycline, accounting for 86.7% of all resistant strains. However, there was no multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa strain, and all strains were negative for the metallo-beta-lactamase gene (IMP-1 and VIM-2). These findings suggested that cockroach-derived P. aeruginosa may contaminate hospital environments, for which the control of disease-carrying insects in hospitals is important.

The transition to maximum photoluminescence of InGaN single quantum wells is a phenomena that has time constants in the range of few seconds. Using a systematic illumination/darkening procedure we found that these characteristics are related to previous stimulations as if the sample has a memory of past illumination events. Choosing opportune time sequences, time constants were observed to vary more than 100%. These facts suggest the presence of carrier trapping/de-trapping processes that act beyond the single illumination event, accumulating over time in a complex effect.

Abstract Urotensin II (U-II), initially identified as a cyclic peptide from fish urophysis, acts both as a strong vasoconstrictor and vasodilator in the vasculature via its receptor GPR14. In addition, U-II and its receptor are co-expressed in the adrenal medulla as well as human pheochromocytomas, suggesting that this peptide may have some function in chromaffin cells. However, the precise role of U-II in these cells is unknown. In the present study, we initially demonstrate that U-II and its receptors mRNA are co-expressed in the rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12. Moreover, U-IIhas not effect on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of catecholamine, in terms of enzyme activity or at the mRNA level. However, U-II does induce an increase in the phosphorylation of TH specifically at Ser31 without affecting phosphorylation at the two other sites (Ser19, Ser40). U-II also markedly activates ERKs and p38, but not JNK. Blockade of the EGF receptor by AG1478 significantly reduces activation of ERK, suggesting that EGF receptor transactivation could act upstream of the ERK pathway in PC12 cells. Furthermore, U-II significantly increases dopamine secretion from PC12 cells. Finally, we show that U-II induced significant DNA synthesis in a ERKs and P38 MAPK-dependent manner. Our results indicate that U-II may exert its effects as a neuromodulator in chromaffin cells.

In neural development, several Wnt genes are expressed in the vertebrate diencephalon, including the thalamus. However, roles of Wnt signaling in the thalamus during neurogenesis are not well understood. We examined Wnt/beta-catenin activity in embryonic mouse thalamus and found that a Wnt target gene Axin2 and reporter activity of BAT-gal transgenic mice show similar, differential patterns within the thalamic ventricular zone, where ventral and rostral regions had lower activity than other regions. Expression of Wnt ligands and signaling components also showed complex, differential patterns. Finally, based on partially reciprocal patterns of Wnt and Shh signals in the thalamic ventricular zone, we tested if Shh signal is sufficient or necessary for the differential Axin2 expression. Analysis of mice with enhanced or reduced Shh signal showed that Axin2 expression is similar to controls. These results suggest that differential Wnt signaling may play a role in patterning the thalamus independent of Shh signaling. Developmental Dynamics 238:3297-3309, 2009.(c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The present study examined the age-related changes in muscle thickness (MT) and volume (MV) of elbow flexors and developed a prediction equation of the MV based on the MT applicable to men and women with a wide range of age. The MT and MV were determined from a single ultrasonographic image and multiple magnetic resonance imaging scans, respectively, in 72 men and 75 women aged 19-77 year. As a result of examining the age-MT and age-MV relationships by calculation of partial correlation coefficients with the control variable of gender, MV was decreased with aging whereas the corresponding decline in MT was not significant. The subjects were randomly separated into either a validation (38 men and 42 women) or a cross-validation (34 men and 33 women) group, and a multiple regression equation to estimate MV using not only MT but also upper arm length (L), age and gender as independent variables [MV (cm(3))= 60.8 x MT (cm)+ 6.48 x L (cm)- 0.709 x age (year)+ 51.4 x gender (0 women, 1 men)- 187.4] was validated and cross-validated. Thus, the prediction equation for MV of elbow flexors newly developed was shown to be applicable to men and women with a wide range of age.