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To explore the association between fear of falling and physical activity independent of cognitive decline. Older community-dwelling adults with high fear of falling were found to have had declined cognitive speed. Second, both moderate and high fear of falling were associated with moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity and step counts in older community-dwelling adults, with the high fear of falling group performing a less physical activity with moderate- and vigorous-intensity and fewer steps. Fear of falling may be associated with decreased physical activity in older adults. This study addressed a two-part question. First, is cognitive decline associated with fear of falling (FoF)? Second, if this association is observed, is there also an association between FoF and physical activity (PA) independent of cognitive decline? Participants in the study were community-dwelling Japanese residents between 65 and 85 years of age (N = 458, mean age = 72.4 ± 4.6, male = 53.7%). Step counts were recorded, as was objectively measured PA, divided into (1) low-intensity PA and (2) moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA. Three groups were determined based on FoF: low, moderate, and high. Neuropsychological tests were also conducted. Participants with high FoF had slower processing speed. low-intensity PA was associated with only high FoF, but after controlling for processing speed, the significance of this association was attenuated. Shorter time of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA was associated with high FoF, even in the full model controlling for other factors. All FoF levels were associated with lower step counts. older community-dwelling adults with high FoF were found to have had declined cognitive speed/ Second, both moderate and high FoF were associated with moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA and step counts in older community-dwelling adults, with the high FoF group performing shorter time of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA and fewer steps.

Coronary artery disease is common in patients on dialysis; there is a high rate of bleeding events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in such patients. We investigated the impact of bleeding events after PCI on mortality in patients on hemodialysis. We included 386 consecutive hemodialysis patients who underwent PCI using a drug-eluting stent (DES) between September 2004 and December 2017 in our hospital, and investigated the impact of bleeding events on all-cause mortality after PCI. Bleeding events were assessed by the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) bleeding definition within 24 months after PCI. A total of 42 patients experienced bleeding events. Of these, 30 patients (71.4%) had TIMI major bleeding events and 12 patients (28.6%) had TIMI minor bleeding events. Patients with bleeding events had significantly higher mortality than patients without bleeding events (survival rate, 55.1% vs 81.5%, log-rank: p

Background Although hepatectomy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) prolongs survival in up to 40% of people, recurrence rates approach 70%. We used a multidisciplinary approach to treat recurrent liver metastases, including chemotherapy, surgery, and palliative care. On the other hand, development of chemotherapeutic agents is remarkable and improves long-term survival. However, whether chemotherapy and repeat hepatectomy combination therapy improve survival or not is still unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the outcomes of repeat hepatectomy with systemic chemotherapy for mCRC. Methods Following Institutional Review Board approval, we reviewed the records of all patients who underwent hepatectomy for mCRC between 1974 and 2015 at Fujita Health University Hospital. We used the Kaplan–Meier method to estimate overall survival from the first and last hepatectomy in multi hepatectomy cases after 2005 and compared outcomes between groups using the log-rank test. Results A total of 426 liver resections were performed for mCRC; of these, 236 cases were performed after 2005 (late group). In 118 (50%) cases, the site of recurrence was the liver, 59 (50%) underwent repeat hepatectomy, and 14 cases had ≥ 2 repeat hepatectomies. Overall survival (OS) before and after 2005 was 42.2 and 64.1 months, respectively, with the late group having better OS compared to the early (1974–2004) group. OS for single hepatectomy cases was 83.2 months, for two hepatectomies was 42.9 months, and for three hepatectomies was 35.3 months. In total, 59 patients did not undergo surgery after recurrence with an OS of 28.7 months. Mortality of the second and third repeat hepatectomy was 1.7% and 15.3%, respectively. Conclusion Repeat hepatectomy with systemic chemotherapy for mCRC is feasible and might achieve improved survival in carefully selected patients.

Purpose Pemetrexed (PEM) is an anticancer agent used for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma and thymoma. Reportedly, PEM has higher efficacy and safety when used in combination with platinum-based agents. However, there are only few reports on the safety of PEM in patients with an eGFR of ≤45 mL/min. We examined the effect of renal function on the safety of regimens containing PEM. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 221 patients with lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma or thymoma who received treatment with a PEM-containing regimen between 2009 and 2014. Subgroup analyses were performed on the basis of pre-treatment renal function: group A [creatinine clearance (CLcr)

Texture such as velvet lustre contributes to the ornamental character of a flower, along with shape and colour. This study aims to clarify the relationship between the formation of the velvet lustre texture and the optical characteristics of light reflection from irradiated surfaces of velvety and non-velvety petals from 30 cultivars or varieties of ornamental plants representing 19 species from various families. The angle of incident light from the petal surface was set at 90°, 60° or 30°, then light reflection from the petal surfaces was observed using a digital microscope. The observed reflected light was composed of "exterior" reflected light (ERL), which is observed as sparkling white spots on the surface of the epidermal cells, and "interior" reflected light (IRL), which is reflected from inside the petal and determines the base colour of the petals. Velvety petals had two common characteristics: conical-papillate or domed epidermal cells and a dark colour. As the angle between the petal and the incident light decreased, the ERL spots took on a belt-like shape, and total ERL intensity became stronger. We concluded that the velvety texture is derived from characteristic ERL rays coupled with dark IRL. The long sloping surface of the epidermal cells contributes to the higher ERL intensity as petals are observed from more horizontal angles, causing characteristic reverse shading effects on velvety petals.

This work focused on the preparation of p-type Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 bulk materials by combining mechanical alloying (MA) and hot extrusion, with emphasis on grain refinement and preferred grain orientation. Pure Bi, Sb, and Te powders were mechanically alloyed then hot extruded in the temperature range 360–450°C. Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 bulk materials were successfully prepared by MA and hot extrusion. All the samples had sound appearance, with single phases and high densities. The hot-extruded samples had small grain sizes, and the lower the extrusion temperature, the smaller the grain sizes. The results indicated that the extrudates had preferred orientation. The basal plane was predominantly oriented parallel to the direction of extrusion. Similar Seebeck coefficients were obtained when extrusion temperature was in the range 380–420°C. Electrical resistivity decreased with increasing extrusion temperature. Thermal conductivity was relatively low, even if the extrusion temperature was 450°C. As a result, a ZT value of 1.2 was obtained at room temperature for the sample extruded at 400°C. Therefore, combination of MA and hot extrusion results in significant improvement of both the thermoelectric and mechanical performance of Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 bulk materials.

In this research we eliminated chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd) from a highly infected chrysanthemum cultivar using a newly established method. 'Piato' is one of the most difficult cultivars in which to obtain CSVd-free plants by conventional methods. Leaf primordium-free shoot apical meristems (LP-free SAMs) of 'Piato' plants were dissected and attached to CSVd-free chrysanthemum or cabbage root tips. As shown by nested-PCR, CSVd was not detected in some shoots regenerated on both types of root tip. The production rates of CSVd-free plants using chrysanthemum and cabbage root tips were 14% and 3%, respectively. Regeneration of plants from LP-free SAMs of chrysanthemum plants by attaching these SAMs to root tips is an efficient method of generating CSVd-free chrysanthemum plants.

We developed an efficient plant regeneration system from protoplasts for poplar (Populus alba L.). Protoplasts were isolated from 4-day-old suspension cultures derived from seed-induced calli with a yield of 6.96× 106 cells/g fresh weight cells and then cultured at a concentration of 2.5×105 cells/ml in NH4NO3-free Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 5 µM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 0.05 µM thidiazuron (TDZ) and 0.5 M glucose as a osmoticum. The plating efficiency of the cultured protoplasts was calculated at 26.5% at day 7 and 31.7% at day 14. Cell colonies were observed after culturing for 4 weeks. Regenerated colonies were propagated through subculture in liquid MS medium supplemented with 5 µM 2,4-D. Buds were induced from regenerated calli on MS medium containing 10 µM kinetin or 1 µM TDZ. Regenerated shoots were rooted on half-strength MS medium, and the plantlets were transplanted in soil. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis did not detect any DNA polymorphism among the regenerated plants.

We introduce a new family of examples of ‘quantum groups’. Its irreducible representations are indexed by level l dominant integral weights of affine Lie algebra sī(n), and their branching rules with respect to the ‘truncated tensor product’ $$\bar\otimes $$ is given by the fusion rules of SU(n) l -Wess-Zumino-Witten model in conformal field theory.

Soit g une algebre de Lie de Kac-Moody affine de type X l (1) . Soit L(λ) le module de poids le plus eleve unique irreductible. Pour chaque poids de Kac-Kazhdan, on a chL(λ)=exp λ•πα ∈Δ + re (1-exp-α) −1