Immunostimulatory Effect of Zanthoxylum schinifolium-Based Complex Oil Prepared by Supercritical Fluid Extraction in Splenocytes and Cyclophosphamide-Induced Immunosuppressed Rats

Complex oil of Zanthoxylum schinifolium and Perilla frutescens seed (ZPCO) is used as a traditional medicine due to its pharmacological activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunostimulatory effect of ZPCO in isolated splenocytes as well as in an immunosuppressed rat model, which was generated via oral administration of cyclophosphamide. Notably, our results showed that ZPCO exerted an immunity-enhancing effect both in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, ZPCO treatment enhanced the viability and inflammatory cytokine production of splenocytes and NK cell activity in vitro. Moreover, this product improved host defense under immunosuppressive conditions by increasing the number of immune cells and promoting the expression of cytokines involved in immune responses. Our results suggest that complex oil including Z. schinifolium should be explored as a novel immunostimulatory agent that could potentially be used for therapeutic purposes or as an ingredient in functional foods.

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Ureteral stents for malignant extrinsic ureteral obstruction: outcomes and factors predicting stent failure

Abstract

Background

This study investigated the clinical outcomes of stent placement for malignant extrinsic ureteral obstruction (MUO) and predictive factors for stent failure.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed clinical data for 91 patients with radiologically significant hydronephrosis due to MUO who underwent successful stent placement. In total, 132 ureters were stented for the decompression. Factors related to stent failure were analyzed with a Cox proportional hazards model.

Results

Stent failure occurred in 25 ureters in 20 patients. The median interval to failure was 63 days. The multivariate analysis showed that the significant predictors of stent failure were bladder invasion and severe hydronephrosis before the stent insertion. The patients were divided into three groups based on these two factors: low-risk (neither factor; 85 patients), intermediate-risk (one factor; 37), and high-risk (both factors; 10). The median stent failure-free survival rate at 3 months was 94.8% in the low-risk, 71.8% in the intermediate-risk and 55.6% in the high-risk group, respectively. Of the ureters with stent failure, there was successful re-replacement of internal stents in 3 low-risk, 6 intermediate-risk and no high-risk ureters. Replacement by nephrostomy was done in 2 low-risk, 5 intermediate-risk and 7 high-risk ureters.

Conclusion

The patients considered at low-risk could be managed without stent failure by internal stenting. However, the patients at high-risk may require the consideration of nephrostomy or other alternatives as the initial treatment. Our stratification model may allow better risk stratification for patients with regard to ureteral stenting, helping to identify patients for whom ureteral stenting is indicated.

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Individual preferences in motor coordination seen across the two hands: relations to movement stability and optimality

Abstract

The framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis was used to explore variables related to stability of task performance in the two hands of young healthy individuals. Fourteen young adults performed four-finger accurate constant force production tasks interrupted by a voluntary quick force pulse production and by an externally imposed displacement of all fingers. Three groups of variables were used to quantify stability of steady force production: (1) indices of the inter-trial variance were computed within the UCM and orthogonal to the UCM; (2) indices of motor equivalence were computed between steady-state intervals separated by the force pulse and by the finger-lifting episode; and (3) referent coordinate and apparent stiffness were computed using the data during the ascending phase of the finger-lifting episode. In another task, the subjects performed accurate constant force production with visual feedback removal after the 8th second, and the drop in the total force after the removal was computed. There were differences between the right and left hand in some outcome variables such as variance within the UCM, and the timing of anticipatory synergy adjustments prior to the force pulse, consistent with the dynamic dominance hypothesis. There were significant correlations between the two hands for indices that were unrelated to accuracy of performance: variance within the UCM, index of motor equivalence, referent coordinate, apparent stiffness, and the drop of total force after visual feedback removal. We interpret these findings within the concept of stability–optimality trade-off. In particular, we conclude that individual subjects select particular, person-specific solutions within the spectrum allowed by the explicit task constraints, and this choice is consistent between the two hands. We conclude with a hypothesis that selecting specific solutions within the stability–optimality trade-off may represent an individual's personal preference consistent between the two hands.

https://ift.tt/2CA2QaK

Investigation of eye movement pattern parameters of individuals with different fluid intelligence

Abstract

Eye movement studies are subject of interest in human cognition. Cortical activity and cognitive load impress eye movement influentially. Here, we investigated whether fluid intelligence (FI) has any effect on eye movement pattern in a comparative visual search (CVS) task. FI of individuals was measured using the Cattell test, and participants were divided into three groups: low FI, middle FI, and high FI. Eye movements of individuals were then recorded during the CVS task. Eye movement patterns were extracted and compared statistically among the three groups. Our experiment demonstrated that eye movement patterns were significantly different among the three groups. Pearson correlation coefficients between FI and eye movement parameters were also calculated to assess which of the eye movement parameters were most affected by FI. Our findings illustrate that saccade peak velocity had the greatest positive correlation with FI score and the ratio of total fixation duration to total saccade duration had the greatest negative correlation with FI. Next, we extracted 24 features from eye movement patterns and designed: (1) a classifier to categorize individuals and (2) a regression analysis to predict the FI score of individuals. In the best case examined, the classifier categorized subjects with 68.3% accuracy, and the regression predicted FI of individuals with a 0.54 correlation between observed FI and predicted FI. In our investigation, the results have emphasized that imposed loads on low FI individuals is greater than that of high FI individuals in the cognitive load tasks.

https://ift.tt/2Rz56Ds

Correlations between executive functions and adaptation to incrementally increasing sensorimotor discordances

Abstract

A previous study reported that movement directions adapt much better to 60° target displacements (double steps) when target displacements are introduced incrementally and not abruptly. The present study tested whether incremental adaptation to 60° discordances can be explained by specific cognitive abilities. The results showed that an increase of discordance size during adaptation enhanced reaction times. Furthermore, the individual performance in neuropsychological tests measuring sustained attention, figural fluency and perseveration predicted the rate of adaptation at different discordance sizes. These results are discussed with reference to recent models on directional selectivity and modularity during visually guided reaching.

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Do we need noninvasive biomarkers for delayed graft function after kidney transplantation?

No abstract available

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Perfusion of Porcine Kidneys with Macromolecular Heparin Reduces Early Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

Background Previously we have been able to demonstrate the possibility of coating the inner surface of the renal arteries in porcine kidneys with a heparin conjugate during hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP). The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of this treatment in reducing early ischemia-reperfusion injury. Method Brain death was induced in male landrace pigs by stepwise volume expansion of an epidural balloon catheter until negative cerebral perfusion pressure was obtained. Both kidneys (matched pairs; n=6+6) were preserved for 20 hours by HMP during which 50 mg heparin conjugate was added to 1 of the HMP systems (treated group). A customized ex vivo normothermic oxygenated perfusion (NP) system with added exogenous creatinine was used to evaluate early kidney function. Blood, urine and histological samples were collected during the subsequent 3 hours of NP. Results Kidney weight was lower at the end of NP (p=0.017) in the treated group compared to control kidneys. The rate of decline in creatinine level was faster (p=0.024), total urinary volume was higher (p=0.031) and the level of urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) was lower (p=0.031) in the treated group. Histologically, less tubular changes were seen (p=0.046). During NP intrarenal resistance remained lower (p

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