TESTIS Problems Within a Human population Associated with Southerly Hawaiian KOALAS PHASCOLARCTOS CINEREUS

Degradation activity of the rPhaZs was compared using a simple PHB plate-based method, adapted to test for various pH and temperatures. rPhaZ from M. algicola presented the highest activity at 15°C, and rPhaZs from Cupriavidus sp. T1 and Ralstonia sp. had the highest activity at pH 5.4. The methods proposed herein can be used to test the production of soluble recombinant PhaZs and to perform preliminary evaluation for applications that require PHB degradation. © 2020 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Hutchinson-Gilford progeria is a premature aging syndrome caused by a truncated form of lamin A called progerin. Progerin expression results in a variety of cellular defects including heterochromatin loss, DNA damage, impaired proliferation and premature senescence. It remains unclear how these different progerin-induced phenotypes are temporally and mechanistically linked. To address these questions, we use a doxycycline-inducible system to restrict progerin expression to different stages of the cell cycle. We find that progerin expression leads to rapid and widespread loss of heterochromatin in G1-arrested cells, without causing DNA damage. In contrast, progerin triggers DNA damage exclusively during late stages of DNA replication, when heterochromatin is normally replicated, and preferentially in cells that have lost heterochromatin. Importantly, removal of progerin from G1-arrested cells restores heterochromatin levels and results in no permanent proliferative impediment. Taken together, these results delineate the chain of events that starts with progerin expression and ultimately results in premature senescence. Moreover, they provide a proof of principle that removal of progerin from quiescent cells restores heterochromatin levels and their proliferative capacity to normal levels. © 2020 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Cerebral organoids (COs) have been used for studying brain development, neural disorders, and species-specific drug pharmacology and toxicology, but the potential of COs transplantation therapy for brain injury remains to be answered. METHODS With preparation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) model of motor dysfunction, COs at 55 and 85 days (55 and 85 d-CO) were transplanted into damaged motor cortex separately to identify better transplantation donor for brain injury. Further, the feasibility, effectiveness, and underlying mechanism of COs transplantation therapy for brain injury were explored. RESULTS 55 d-CO was demonstrated as better transplantation donor than 85 d-CO, evidenced by more neurogenesis and higher cell survival rate without aggravating apoptosis and inflammation after transplantation into damaged motor cortex. Cells from transplanted COs had the potential of multilinage differentiation to mimic in-vivo brain cortical development, support region-specific reconstruction of damaged motor cortex, form neurotransmitter-related neurons, and migrate into different brain regions along corpus callosum. Moreover, COs transplantation upregulated hippocampal neural connection proteins and neurotrophic factors. Notably, COs transplantation improved neurological motor function and reduced brain damage. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed 55 d-CO as better transplantation donor and demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of COs transplantation in TBI, hoping to provide first-hand preclinical evidence of COs transplantation for brain injury. © 2020 The Authors. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of baseline hemoglobin-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio (HRR) in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients with newly diagnosed SCLC who had received first-line chemotherapy at the Department of Pulmonary Oncology of the PLA 307 Hospital between January 2008 and October 2018. The optimal cutoff value of the continuous variables was determined using the X-tile software. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using Cox proportional hazard models. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, with differences tested using the log-rank test. RESULTS A total of 146 patients were included. The cutoff value for HRR was determined as 0.985. Statistically significant differences were observed in sex, smoking history, stage, radiotherapy combination, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, hemoglobin, and red blood cell distributionan be used as a prognostic factor in small cell lung cancer. © 2020 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the progression of cervical cancer (CC). However, the roles and underlying molecular mechanisms of lncRNAs in CC remain unclear. In the current study, we discovered a new lncRNA MIR210HG which was upregulated in CC tissues through microarray. The upregulation of MIR210HG was associated with advanced FIGO stage, metastasis, and poor prognosis in CC patients. Function assays showed that MIR210HG inhibition significantly suppressed the proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) processes in CC and reduced tumor growth in vivo. buy Super-TDU Mechanistically, we identified that MIR210HG might serve as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) of miR-503-5p to relieve the repressive effect of miR-503-5p on TRAF4 expression in CC cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated that MIR210HG promoted CC progression through regulating the MIR210HG/miR-503-5p/TRAF4 axis, indicating that MIR210HG might act as a novel insight into CC treatment.RNA binding proteins (RBPs) dysregulation have been reported in various malignant tumors and associated with the occurrence and development of cancer. However, the role of RBPs in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is poorly understood. We downloaded the RNA sequencing data of LUAD from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and determined the differently expressed RBPs between normal and cancer tissues. The study then systemically investigated the expression and prognostic value of these RBPs by a series of bioinformatics analysis. A total of 223 differently expressed RBPs were identified, including 101 up-regulated and 122 down-regulated RBPs. Eight RBPs (IGF2BP1, IFIT1B, PABPC1, TLR8, GAPDH, PIWIL4, RNPC3, and ZC3H12C) were identified as prognosis related hub gene and used to construct a prognostic model. Further analysis indicated that the patients in the high-risk subgroup had poor overall survival(OS) compared to those in low-risk subgroup based on the model. The area under the curve of the time-dependent receiver operator characteristic curve of the prognostic model are 0.775 in TCGA cohort and 0.814 in GSE31210 cohort, confirming a good prognostic model. We also established a nomogram based on eight RBPs mRNA and internal validation in the TCGA cohort, which displayed a favorable discriminating ability for lung adenocarcinoma.Hearts often undergo abnormal remodelling and hypertrophic growth in response to pathological stress. Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) can change cardiac function and participate in regulation of cardiac hypertrophy. The present study aims to identify the role of AK045171 in cardiac hypertrophy and the underlying mechanism in hypertrophic cascades. Mice with cardiac hypertrophy were established through transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Cardiac hypertrophy in cardiomyocytes was induced by angiotensin II (angII). The expression of AK045171 and its target gene SP1 was examined in cardiomyocytes transfected with miRNA. The AK045171 expression level was downregulated in mice after TAC surgery. Overexpression of AK045171 attenuated cardiac hypertrophy both in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism study indicated that AK045171 binds with SP1, which promotes transcription activation of MEG3. It is suggested that overexpression of AK045171 might have clinical potential to suppress cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.BACKGROUND The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion completed research to understand factors that could encourage Americans to follow the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, second edition, released in 2018. This study describes survey research assessing demographic characteristics that might be related to knowledge and awareness of the guidelines. METHODS An online survey of 2050 adult physical activity contemplators assessed knowledge of physical activity, awareness of the guidelines, and knowledge of dosage recommendations. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed, and demographic differences in knowledge and awareness were analyzed using Pearson chi-square tests and Fisher exact tests. RESULTS Respondents had medium to high knowledge of physical activity, although knowledge varied significantly by socioeconomic factors. Knowledge of dosage recommendations was very low, with 2% and 3% of respondents correctly identifying recommended moderate- and vigorous-intensity doses, respectively. Only 22% were aware of the guidelines; awareness was greater among those with a higher education or income and those without a disability. CONCLUSIONS These findings guided the development of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion's Move Your Way campaign and reinforced the need to raise awareness of the guidelines and promote behavior change among physical activity contemplators-particularly those from lower socioeconomic groups.CONTEXT In many societies, although chronic low back pain (LBP) is a significant problem, there is no consensus on the optimal therapeutic intervention. OBJECTIVE To compare the impact of aquatic exercise (AE) and kinesio taping (KT) on the pain intensity and functional incapacity in women with chronic nonspecific LBP. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING Outpatient clinic. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-six women with chronic nonspecific LBP (mean [SD] age = 50.69 [4.187] y) participated. INTERVENTIONS Participants randomly assigned to AE (n = 12), KT (n = 12), and nontreatment control (n = 12) groups for 6 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Pain intensity and functional disability were evaluated at baseline and the end of the intervention. RESULTS Pain intensity decreased more in the AE group than in the KT group (5.9-0.5 cm [91.6% decrease] vs 5.7-2.4 cm [58.1% decrease], respectively; P less then .001 for both after Bonferroni post hoc test); the values decreased more in the 2 treatment groups than in the control group (P less then .001 for between-group comparisons). Disability decreased more in the AE group (43.2%-18.8% [55.6% decrease]) than the KT group (37.8%-19.3% [48.3% decrease]) (P less then .001 for both comparisons), but increased in the control group (38.7%-41.2% [6.5% increase]; P = .045). CONCLUSION These results suggest AE and KT treatment methods provide pain intensity and disability improvements in women with chronic nonspecific LBP. Nevertheless, AE was more effective than KT.CONTEXT Falls and loss of autonomy are often attributed in large part to musculoskeletal impairments in later adulthood. Age-related declines in flexibility contribute to late adulthood musculoskeletal impairment. The novel sitting-rising test has been proposed to be a quick, effective screening of musculoskeletal fitness, fall risk, and all-cause mortality in older adults. The timed up and go and 5 times sit-to-stand tests are two of the 3 most evidence-supported performance measures to assess fall risk. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine if 5 weeks of flexibility training could increase sitting-rising test, timed up and go, and 5 times sit-to-stand scores in community-dwelling older adults. PARTICIPANTS Forty-seven adults aged 60 years and older (mean age = 66.7 y, SD = 4.1) participated in this study. Participants completed a static stretching protocol consisting of 3 weekly 1-hour stretching sessions. RESULTS The protocol improved flexibility as seen in sit-and-reach scores and improved scores on all outcome variables.