Impact of unilateral spatial neglect on chronic patient's post-stroke quality of life

Abstract

Background: Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is the prevalent feature in patients with right-sided stroke. It is diagnosed through the behavior inattention test (BIT) and has a negative impact on patients affecting both their functional capacity and quality of life.

Objective: Here, we aimed to evaluate the impact of USN on the quality of life of patients in the chronic phase of stroke.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with stroke patients with USN. After confirming the presence of stroke through neuroimaging examinations and of USN through the BIT, patients’ quality of life was evaluated by using the EUROQOL scale. Spearman’s correlation was used to validate the correlation between patients’ USN and quality of life, with a p?<?.05 representing significant results.

Results: Eighteen individuals were included. When correlating the value of each domain of the EUROQOL scale with the results of the BIT, we observed a negative correlation between mobility (r?=?–0.97; p?=?.000), self-care (r?=?–0.82; p?=?.013), usual activities (r?=?–0.87; p?=?.005); pain or discomfort (r?=?–0.88; p?=?.004), anxiety or depression (r?=?–0.97; p?=?.000), and EUROQOL total score (r?=?–0.97, p?=?.000).

Conclusion: After a correlation between the overall EUROQOL and BIT scores, we suggest that the higher the USN degree is in stroke patients, the worse their perceived quality of life tends to be.     

Cortical control for mastication in cats: Changes in masticatory movements following lesions in the masticatory cortex

In a previous paper (Hiraba and Sato ) we reported that an accurate mastication might be executed by the cortical processing in bilateral masticatory area (MA)and motor cortices. The aim of this study was to determine if cats with lesion of either unilateral or bilateral MA showed changes in mastication. After exploring mechanoreceptive fields and motor effects of mastication-related neurons (MRNs) in MA using the single unit recording and intracortical microstimulation methods, we made various lesions in MAs with injections of kainic acid (0.1%, 2.0?µl). Since the MA was divided into facial (F) and intraoral (I) projection areas as reported in the previous paper, cats with the unilateral lesion in F or I, and with the bilateral lesion in F & F, I & I or F & I (F on one side and I on other side) were prepared. Cats with unilateral lesion in F or I and with bilateral lesion in F & I showed no changes in mastication except for prolongation of the food intake and masticatory periods. Cats with bilateral lesion into F & F, or I & I showed wider jaw-opening during mastication. Particularly, the latter group showed enormous jaw-opening, delay in the start of mastication and difficulty in manipulating food on the tongue. In all cats with lesions of each type, masticatory and swallowing rhythms remained normal. These findings suggest that accurate mastication is executed by the close integration between F & F and I & I of the bilateral MA.     

Immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic HIV protein

Elicitation of broad humoral immune responses is a critical factor in the development of effective HIV vaccines. In an effort to develop low-cost candidate vaccines based on multiepitopic recombinant proteins, this study has been undertaken to assess and characterize the immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. This protein consists of V3 loops corresponding to five different HIV isolates, including MN, IIIB, RF, CC, and RU. In this study, both Escherichia coli and lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 have elicited local and systemic immune responses when orally administered to BALB/c mice. More importantly, lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has shown a higher immunogenic potential than that of E. coli-derived C4(V3)6. Moreover, when reactivity of sera from mice immunized with C4(V3)6 are compared with those elicited by a chimeric protein carrying a single V3 sequence, broader responses have been observed. The lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has elicited antibodies with positive reactivity against V3 loops from isolates MN, RF, and CC. In addition, splenocyte proliferation assays indicate that significant T-helper responses are induced by the C4(V3)6 immunogen. Taken together, these findings account for the observed elicitation of broader humoral responses by the C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. Moreover, they provide further validation for the production of multiepitopic vaccines in plant cells as this serves not only as a low-cost expression system, but also as an effective delivery vehicle for orally administered immunogens.     

Sperm ultrastructure in the diatoms Melosira and Thalassiosira and the significance of the 9 + 0 configuration

The most complete account to date of the ultrastructure of flagellate cells in diatoms is given for the sperm of Thalassiosira lacustris and Melosira moniliformis var. octogona, based on serial sections. The sperm are uniflagellate, with no trace of a second basal body, and possess a 9?+?0 axoneme. The significance of the 9?+?0 configuration is discussed: lack of the central pair microtubules and radial spokes does not compromise the mastigoneme-bearing flagellum’s capacity to perform planar beats and thrust reversal and may perhaps be related to sensory/secretory function of the sperm flagellum during plasmogamy. The basal bodies of diatoms are confirmed to contain doublets rather than triplets, which may correlate with the absence of some centriolar proteins found in most cells producing active flagella. Whereas Melosira possesses a normal cartwheel structure in the long basal body, no such structure is present in Thalassiosira, which instead possesses ‘intercalary fibres’ linking the basal body doublets. No transitional helices or transitional plates are present in either species studied. Cones of microtubules are associated with the basal body and partially enclose the nucleus in M. moniliformis and T. lacustris. They do not appear to be true microtubular roots and may arise through transformation of the meiosis II spindle. A close association between cone microtubules and tubules containing mastigonemes may indicate a function in intracellular mastigoneme transport. No correlation can yet be detected between methods of spermatogenesis and phylogeny in diatoms, contrary to previous suggestions.     

The plant Selaginella moellendorffii possesses enzymes for synthesis and hydrolysis of the compatible solutes mannosylglycerate and glucosylglycerate

A mannosylglycerate synthase (MgS) gene detected in the genome of Selaginella moellendorffii was expressed in E. coli and the recombinant enzyme was purified and characterized. A remarkable and unprecedented feature of this enzyme was the ability to efficiently synthesize mannosylglycerate (MG) and glucosylglycerate (GG) alike, with maximal activity at 50 °C, pH 8.0 and with Mg²⁺ as reaction enhancer. We have also identified a novel glycoside hydrolase gene in this plant’s genome, which was functionally confirmed to be highly specific for the hydrolysis of MG and GG and named MG hydrolase (MgH), due to its homology with bacterial MgHs. The recombinant enzyme was maximally active at 40 °C and at pH 6.0–6.5. The activity was independent of cations, but Mn²⁺ was a strong stimulator. Regardless of these efficient enzymatic resources we could not detect MG or GG in S. moellendorffii or in the extracts of five additional Selaginella species. Herein, we describe the properties of the first eukaryotic enzymes for the synthesis and hydrolysis of the compatible solutes, MG and GG.     

Generation of Rhesus Macaque-Tropic HIV-1 Clones That Are Resistant to Major Anti-HIV-1 Restriction Factors

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication in macaque cells is restricted mainly by antiviral cellular APOBEC3, TRIM5α/TRIM5CypA, and tetherin proteins. For basic and clinical HIV-1/AIDS studies, efforts to construct macaque-tropic HIV-1 (HIV-1mt) have been made by us and others. Although rhesus macaques are commonly and successfully used as infection models, no HIV-1 derivatives suitable for in vivo rhesus research are available to date. In this study, to obtain novel HIV-1mt clones that are resistant to major restriction factors, we altered Gag and Vpu of our best HIV-1mt clone described previously. First, by sequence- and structure-guided mutagenesis, three amino acid residues in Gag-capsid (CA) (M94L/R98S/G114Q) were found to be responsible for viral growth enhancement in a macaque cell line. Results of in vitro TRIM5α susceptibility testing of HIV-1mt carrying these substitutions correlated well with the increased viral replication potential in macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with different TRIM5 alleles, suggesting that the three amino acids in HIV-1mt CA are involved in the interaction with TRIM5α. Second, we replaced the transmembrane domain of Vpu of this clone with the corresponding region of simian immunodeficiency virus SIVgsn166 Vpu. The resultant clone, MN4/LSDQgtu, was able to antagonize macaque but not human tetherin, and its Vpu effectively functioned during viral replication in a macaque cell line. Notably, MN4/LSDQgtu grew comparably to SIVmac239 and much better than any of our other HIV-1mt clones in rhesus macaque PBMCs. In sum, MN4/LSDQgtu is the first HIV-1 derivative that exhibits resistance to the major restriction factors in rhesus macaque cells.     

Contribution of Double-Stranded RNA and CPSF30 Binding Domains of Influenza Virus NS1 to the Inhibition of Type I Interferon Production and Activation of Human Dendritic Cells

The influenza virus nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) inhibits innate immunity by multiple mechanisms. We previously reported that NS1 is able to inhibit the production of type I interferon (IFN) and proinflammatory cytokines in human primary dendritic cells (DCs). Here, we used recombinant viruses expressing mutant NS1 from the A/Texas/36/91 and A/Puerto Rico/08/34 strains in order to analyze the contribution of different NS1 domains to its antagonist functions. We show that the polyadenylation stimulating factor 30 (CPSF30) binding function of the NS1 protein from A/Texas/36/91 influenza virus, which is absent in the A/Puerto Rico/08/34 strain, is essential for counteracting these innate immune events in DCs. However, the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) binding domain, present in both strains, specifically inhibits the induction of type I IFN genes in infected DCs, while it is essential only for inhibition of type I IFN proteins and proinflammatory cytokine production in cells infected with influenza viruses lacking a functional CPSF30 binding domain, such as A/Puerto Rico/08/34.