Quantitative Timed-Up-and-Go Parameters in Relation to Cognitive Parameters and Health-Related Quality of Life in Mild-to-Moderate Parkinson's Disease

IntroductionThe instrumented-Timed-Up-and-Go test (iTUG) provides detailed information about the following movement patterns: sit-to-walk (siwa), straight walking, turning and walk-to-sit (wasi). We were interested in the relative contributions of respective iTUG sub-phases to specific clinical deficits most relevant for daily life in Parkinson’s disease (PD). More specifically, we investigated which condition–fast speed (FS) or convenient speed (CS)–differentiates best between mild- to moderate-stage PD patients and controls, which parameters of the iTUG sub-phases are significantly different between PD patients and controls, and how the iTUG parameters associate with cognitive parameters (with particular focus on cognitive flexibility and working memory) and Health-Related-Quality of Life (HRQoL).MethodsTwenty-eight PD participants (65.1±7.1 years, H&Y stage 1–3, medication OFF state) and 20 controls (66.1±7.5 years) performed an iTUG (DynaPort^®, McRoberts BV, The Netherlands) under CS and FS conditions. The PD Questionnaire 39 (PDQ-39) was employed to assess HRQoL. General cognitive and executive functions were assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Trail Making Test.ResultsThe total iTUG duration and sub-phases durations under FS condition differentiated PD patients slightly better from controls, compared to the CS condition. The following sub-phases were responsible for the observed longer total duration PD patients needed to perform the iTUG: siwa, turn and wasi. None of the iTUG parameters correlated relevantly with general cognitive function. Turning duration and wasi maximum flexion velocity correlated strongest with executive function. Walking back duration correlated strongest with HRQoL.DiscussionThis study confirms that mild- to moderate-stage PD patients need more time to perform the iTUG than controls, and adds the following aspects to current literature: FS may be more powerful than CS to delineate subtle movement deficits in mild- to moderate-stage PD patients; correlation levels of intra-individual siwa and wasi parameters may be interesting surrogate markers for the level of automaticity of performed movements; and sub-phases and kinematic parameters of the iTUG may have the potential to reflect executive functioning and HRQoL aspects of PD patients.     

Water browning mediates predatory decimation of the Arctic fairy shrimp Branchinecta paludosa

相似文献   

A method for in situ monitoring of the isotope composition of tree xylem water using laser spectroscopy

Field studies analyzing the stable isotope composition of xylem water are providing important information on ecosystem water relations. However, the capacity of stable isotopes to characterize the functioning of plants in their environment has not been fully explored because of methodological constraints on the extent and resolution at which samples could be collected and analysed. Here, we introduce an in situ method offering the potential to continuously monitor the stable isotope composition of tree xylem water via its vapour phase using a commercial laser‐based isotope analyser and compact microporous probes installed into the xylem. Our technique enables efficient high‐frequency measurement with intervals of only a few minutes per sample while eliminating the need for costly and cumbersome destructive collection of plant material and laboratory‐based processing. We present field observations of xylem water hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions obtained over several days including a labelled irrigation event and compare them against results from concurrent destructive sampling with cryogenic distillation and mass spectrometric analysis. The data demonstrate that temporal changes as well as spatial patterns of integration in xylem water isotope composition can be resolved through direct measurement. The new technique can therefore present a valuable tool to study the hydraulic architecture and water utilization of trees.     

Genetic Manipulation of Glycogen Allocation Affects Replicative Lifespan in E. coli

In bacteria, replicative aging manifests as a difference in growth or survival between the two cells emerging from division. One cell can be regarded as an aging mother with a decreased potential for future survival and division, the other as a rejuvenated daughter. Here, we aimed at investigating some of the processes involved in aging in the bacterium Escherichia coli, where the two types of cells can be distinguished by the age of their cell poles. We found that certain changes in the regulation of the carbohydrate metabolism can affect aging. A mutation in the carbon storage regulator gene, csrA, leads to a dramatically shorter replicative lifespan; csrA mutants stop dividing once their pole exceeds an age of about five divisions. These old-pole cells accumulate glycogen at their old cell poles; after their last division, they do not contain a chromosome, presumably because of spatial exclusion by the glycogen aggregates. The new-pole daughters produced by these aging mothers are born young; they only express the deleterious phenotype once their pole is old. These results demonstrate how manipulations of nutrient allocation can lead to the exclusion of the chromosome and limit replicative lifespan in E. coli, and illustrate how mutations can have phenotypic effects that are specific for cells with old poles. This raises the question how bacteria can avoid the accumulation of such mutations in their genomes over evolutionary times, and how they can achieve the long replicative lifespans that have recently been reported.     

Metabolite targeting: development of a comprehensive targeted metabolomics platform for the assessment of diabetes and its complications

Biomarker studies for metabolic disorders like diabetes mellitus (DM) are an important approach towards a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases (Roberts and Gerszten in Cell Metab 18:43–50, 2013; Wilson et al. in Proteome Res 4:591–598, 2005). Furthermore, screening of potential metabolic biomarkers opens the opportunity of early diagnosis as well as therapy and drug monitoring of metabolic disorders (Rhee et al. in J Clin Invest 10:1–10, 2011; Wang et al. in Nat Med 17:448–458, 2011; Wenk in Nat Rev Drug Discov 4:594–610, 2005). The aim of the present study was to develop methods for the quantitative determination of 74 potential metabolite biomarkers for DM and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in serum. Several studies have shown that the concentrations of many polar metabolites like amino or organic acids are changed in subjects suffering from diabetes (Wang et al. in Nat Med 17:448–458, 2011; Yuan et al. in J Chromatogr B 813:53–58, 2007). Analyzing polar analytes presents a challenge in liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with ESI–MS/MS (Gika et al. in J Sep Sci 31:1598–1608, 2008; Spagou et al. in J Sep Sci 33:716–727, 2010). Considering those reasons we decided to develop a specific HILIC–ESI–QqQ–MS/MS-method for quantitative determination of these polar metabolites. A subsequent method validation was carried out for both HILIC and RP chromatography with respect to the guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA in Food and Drug Administration: Guidance for industry, bioanalytical method validation, 2001). The HILIC and RP LC–MS methods were successfully validated. Furthermore, the HILIC method presented here was applied to serum samples of GIPR^dn transgenic mice, a diabetic strain developing DN, and non transgenic littermate controls. Significant, diabetes-associated changes were observed for the concentrations of 21 out of 62 metabolites. The new methods described here accurately quantify 74 metabolites known to be regulated in diabetes, allowing for direct comparison between studies and laboratories. Thus, these methods may be highly adoptable in clinical research, providing a starting point for early diagnosis and metabolic screening.     

Pectin Biosynthesis Is Critical for Cell Wall Integrity and Immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant cell walls are important barriers against microbial pathogens. Cell walls of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves contain three major types of polysaccharides: cellulose, various hemicelluloses, and pectins. UDP-d-galacturonic acid, the key building block of pectins, is produced from the precursor UDP-d-glucuronic acid by the action of glucuronate 4-epimerases (GAEs). Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola ES4326 (Pma ES4326) repressed expression of GAE1 and GAE6 in Arabidopsis, and immunity to Pma ES4326 was compromised in gae6 and gae1 gae6 mutant plants. These plants had brittle leaves and cell walls of leaves had less galacturonic acid. Resistance to specific Botrytis cinerea isolates was also compromised in gae1 gae6 double mutant plants. Although oligogalacturonide (OG)-induced immune signaling was unaltered in gae1 gae6 mutant plants, immune signaling induced by a commercial pectinase, macerozyme, was reduced. Macerozyme treatment or infection with B. cinerea released less soluble uronic acid, likely reflecting fewer OGs, from gae1 gae6 cell walls than from wild-type Col-0. Although both OGs and macerozyme-induced immunity to B. cinerea in Col-0, only OGs also induced immunity in gae1 gae6. Pectin is thus an important contributor to plant immunity, and this is due at least in part to the induction of immune responses by soluble pectin, likely OGs, that are released during plant-pathogen interactions.     

Same but different–Scale up and numbering up in electrobiotechnology and photobiotechnology

Facing energy problems, there is a strong demand for new technologies dealing with the replacement of fossil fuels. The emerging fields of biotechnology, photobiotechnology and electrobiotechnology, offer solutions for the production of fuels, energy, or chemicals using renewable energy sources (light or electrical current e.g. produced by wind or solar power) or organic (waste) substrates. From an engineering point of view both technologies have analogies and some similar challenges, since both light and electron transfer are primarily surface‐dependent. In contrast to that, bioproduction processes are typically volume dependent. To allow large scale and industrially relevant applications of photobiotechnology and electrobiotechnology, this opinion first gives an overview over the current scales reached in these areas. We then try to point out the challenges and possible methods for the scale up or numbering up of the reactors used. It is shown that the field of photobiotechnology is by now much more advanced than electrobiotechnology and has achieved industrial applications in some cases. We argue that transferring knowledge from photobiotechnology to electrobiotechnology can speed up the development of the emerging field of electrobiotechnology. We believe that a combination of scale up and numbering up, as it has been shown for several photobiotechnological reactors, may well lead to industrially relevant scales in electrobiotechnological processes allowing an industrial application of the technology in near future.