What Predicts Hospital Admissions in Community-Dwelling People With Parkinsonism?

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have looked at the reasons for hospital admission in people with parkinsonism (PwP), yet few have looked at factors that precipitate admission. METHODS: People with parkinsonism with a diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson disease of Hoehn and Yahr stage III-V and those with Parkinson plus syndromes were assessed for motor and nonmotor symptoms, quality of life, and functional performance. Logistic regression was used to investigate predictors of hospital admission over the subsequent 2 years. RESULTS: Overall, 162 patients consented to be part of the study. Seventy-one PwP (43.8%) had at least 1 hospital admission, and 17 (10.5%) patients had 3 or more admissions to hospital. Poorer cognition, more nonmotor symptoms, poorer quality of life, slower timed-up-and-go test scores, and abnormal swallow predicted a subsequent hospital admission. DISCUSSION: Our study emphasizes the importance of nonmotor symptoms in predicting admission. A cost-benefit analysis of early intervention to prevent admission should be considered.

Light-Triggered Radiochemical Synthesis: A Novel 18F-Labelling Strategy Using Photoinducible Click Reaction to Prepare PET Imaging Probes.

Novel probe development for positron emission tomography (PET) is leading to expanding the scope of molecular imaging. To begin responding to challenges, several biomaterials such as natural products and small molecules, peptides, engineered proteins including affibodies, and antibodies have been used in the development of targeted molecular imaging probes. To prepare radiotracers, a few bioactive materials are unique challenges to radiolabelling because of their complex structure, poor stability, poor solubility in aqueous or chemical organic solutions, and sensitivity to temperature and nonphysiological pH. To overcome these challenges, we developed a new radiolabelling strategy based on photoactivated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between alkene dipolarophile and tetrazole moiety containing compounds. Herein, we describe a light-triggered radiochemical synthesis via photoactivated click reaction to prepare 18F-radiolabelled PET tracers using small molecular and RGD peptide.

Native and fluorescent dye-dependent single-DNA molecule microchip dynamics as measured by differential interference contrast microscopy.

In a free solution of 10.0 mM Gly-Gly (pH 8.2), the flow directions of native-DNA and DNA molecules intercalated with the fluorescent dye YOYO-1 were reversed in the microchip channel. These results clearly showed that in a confined space and under specific environmental conditions, the fluorescent dye modified the original properties and behavior of the native-DNA molecule.

Simple fabrication of hydrophilic nanochannels using the chemical bonding between activated ultrathin PDMS layer and cover glass by oxygen plasma.

This study describes a simple and low cost method for fabricating enclosed transparent hydrophilic nanochannels by coating low-viscosity PDMS (monoglycidyl ether-terminated polydimethylsiloxane) as an adhesion layer onto the surface of the nanotrenches that are molded with a urethane-based UV-curable polymer, Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA 63). In detail, the nanotrenches made of NOA 63 were replicated from a Si master mold and coated with 6 nm thick layer of PDMS. These nanotrenches underwent an oxygen plasma treatment and finally were bound to a cover glass by chemical bonding between silanol and hydroxyl groups. Hydrophobic recovery that is observed in the bulk PDMS was not observed in the thin film of PDMS on the mold and the PDMS-coated nanochannel maintained its surface hydrophilicity for at least one month. The potentials of the nanochannels for bioapplications were demonstrated by stretching λ-DNA (48,502 bp) in the channels. Therefore, this fabrication approach provides a practical solution for the simple fabrication of the nanochannels for bioapplications.

Microchip electrophoretic separation for the fast diagnosis of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in cattle.

We report a diagnostic method for Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum) infection in cattle using a nested PCR and microchip electrophoresis (ME). A. phagocytophilum causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis and granulocytic ehrlichiosis, which are emerging tick-borne zoonotic diseases. Nested PCR was used to amplify genomic DNA samples extracted from cattle blood. The amplified PCR products were analyzed under a sieving gel matrix of 0.7% poly(ethyleneoxide) (M(r)=8,000,000) in a conventional glass microchip. In the ME assay, A. phagocytophilum was analyzed within 35 s with a relative standard deviation of 1.30% (n=5) using a programmed field strength gradient (PFSG) as follows: 615.3 V/cm for 0-24 s, 66.7 V/cm for 24-34 s, 615.3 V/cm for 34-100 s. The ME-PFSG assay was clinically validated by comparing the 16S rRNA gene levels obtained by this method with those measured using conventional slab gel electrophoresis performed with ten cattle blood samples suspected of A. phagocytophilum infection. In contrast to slab gel electrophoresis, the proposed ME-PFSG methodology had increased sensitivity (200-450 pg/microL), a faster analysis time (<35 s), and required a smaller sample volume (approximately 162 fL).