Apigenin delays postovulatory oocyte aging by reducing oxidative stress through SIRT1 upregulation.

After ovulation, senescent oocytes inevitably experience reduced quality and defects in embryonic development. Apigenin (API) is a flavonoid with a wide range of pharmacological effects. Therefore, this study examined the protective effects of API on the quality of porcine oocytes during in-vitro ageing and the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that API treatment could reduce the activation rate after aging for 48 h. In addition, API significantly reduced reactive oxygen species, abnormal distribution of mitochondria, early apoptosis in ageing oocytes, increased glutathione, and mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate levels in ageing oocytes. Importantly, API increased the embryonic development rate in aged oocytes. We also examined molecular changes, finding decreased sirtuin 1 expression in in-vitro postovulatory oocytes, but API reversed this effect. Our results suggest that API attenuates the deterioration of oocyte quality during in-vitro ageing, possibly by reducing oxidative stress through the upregulation of sirtuin 1.

Ultrasound Assessment of Changes in Muscle Architecture of the Brachialis Muscle After Stroke-A Prospective Study.

Objective: To investigate changes in ultrasound-derived muscle architecture parameters of the brachialis and correlations in patients with subacute stroke. Design: Prospective longitudinal observational study. Setting: Tertiary inpatient rehabilitation center. Participants: Fifty adult patients (N=50) who were recruited within the first month poststroke. The patients had a mean age of 57.2±12.3 years and 68.0% were male. The majority of patients had significant upper limb weakness with a low mean Motricity Index of 18.5±24.7 and median elbow flexor strength of grade 0. Intervention: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Ultrasound of the intact and hemiparetic brachialis was performed at 3-time intervals: within 1 month of stroke onset and at 1 and 6 months after first assessment. Clinical variables captured included upper limb motor power and elbow flexor spasticity. Results: Compared to the intact brachialis, there was reduced muscle thickness (1.93 cm vs 2.07 cm, 1.86 cm vs 2.08 cm, 1.85 cm vs 2.05 cm; P=.022) and increased echo intensity (63.3 arbitrary units [AU] vs 56.8 AU, 69.4 AU vs 56.6 AU, 77.4 AU vs 58.2 AU; P<.001) in the hemiparetic brachialis at all assessment intervals (baseline, 1 month, 6 months). Reduction in muscle mass was greater in older patients, with the correlation coefficient ranging from -0.30 (P=.03) at baseline to -0.50 (P<.001) at 6 months. Presence of elbow flexor spasticity at 1-month assessment interval was associated with lower muscle mass reduction (1.93 cm vs 1.74 cm; P=.017), lower echo intensity (65.1 AU vs 75.1 AU; P=.023), and longer fascicle lengths (12.92 cm vs 9.83 cm; P=.002). Conclusions: Changes including decreased muscle thickness and increased echo intensity of the hemiparetic brachialis were noted over time. Elbow flexor spasticity at 1-month assessment interval appears to mitigate against these changes.

Changes in muscle architecture on ultrasound in patients early after stroke.

BACKGROUND: Early muscle changes are believed to occur in patients with stroke. However, there are insufficient data on the changes in muscle mass and architecture of these patients. OBJECTIVES: This study investigates differences in ultrasound-derived muscle architecture parameters of the hemiplegic upper and lower limbs in patients with subacute stroke. METHODS: This is a prospective observational study, which recruited 40 adult patients who had experienced a first ever unilateral stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic), with a duration of < 1 month post stroke. The brachialis, vastus lateralis and medial gastrocnemius on both the hemiplegic and normal side were evaluated via ultrasound. We recorded clinical variables including Motricity Index, Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM)-walk. RESULTS: We found reduced mean muscle thickness (p < 0.001) and increased echo intensity (p < 0.001) in the brachialis muscle, increased echo intensity (p = 0.002) in the vastus lateralis muscle, and reduced muscle thickness (p < 0.001) with increased echo intensity (p < 0.001) in the medial gastrocnemius muscle compared to the normal side. There were no significant correlations between ultrasound findings and Motricity Index. CONCLUSIONS: We report changes in ultrasound-derived muscle architecture in the hemiplegic limbs of patients with subacute stroke, with consistent findings of decreased muscle mass and increased echo intensity.

Covert Subclinical Neurocognitive Sequelae During the Rehabilitation Course of Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019.

ABSTRACT: Apart from respiratory symptoms, encephalopathy and a range of central nervous system complications have been described in coronavirus disease 2019. However, there is a lack of published literature on the rehabilitative course and functional outcomes of severe coronavirus disease 2019 with encephalopathy. In addition, the presence of subclinical neurocognitive sequelae during postacute rehabilitation has not been described and may be underrecognized by rehabilitation providers. We report the rehabilitative course of a middle-aged male patient with severe coronavirus disease 2019 who required intensive care and mechanical ventilation. During postacute inpatient rehabilitation for severe intensive care unit-related weakness, an abnormal cognitive screen prompted brain magnetic resonance imaging, which revealed destructive leukoencephalopathy. Subsequently, detailed psychometric evaluation revealed significant impairments in the domains of processing speed and executive function. After 40 days of intensive inpatient rehabilitation, he was discharged home with independent function. This report highlights the need for an increased awareness of covert subclinical neurocognitive sequelae, the role of comprehensive rehabilitation, and value of routine cognitive screening therein and describes the neurocognitive features in severe COVID-19.

Transformative Reality: improving bionic vision with robotic sensing.

Implanted visual prostheses provide bionic vision with very low spatial and intensity resolution when compared against healthy human vision. Vision processing converts camera video to low resolution imagery for bionic vision with the aim of preserving salient features such as edges. Transformative Reality extends and improves upon traditional vision processing in three ways. Firstly, a combination of visual and non-visual sensors are used to provide multi-modal data of a person's surroundings. This enables the sensing of features that are difficult to sense with only a camera. Secondly, robotic sensing algorithms construct models of the world in real time. This enables the detection of complex features such as navigable empty ground or people. Thirdly, models are visually rendered so that visually complex entities such as people can be effectively represented in low resolution. Preliminary simulated prosthetic vision trials, where a head mounted display is used to constrain a subject's vision to 25×25 binary phosphenes, suggest that Transformative Reality provides functional bionic vision for tasks such as indoor navigation, object manipulation and people detection in scenes where traditional processing is unusable.

Folate-mediated chondroitin sulfate-Pluronic 127 nanogels as a drug carrier.

Pluronic F127 (PF127), one of the polymers which can inhibit drug efflux transporters in cancer therapy, was used to produce amphiphilic nanocarriers for doxorubicin (DOX). In order to stabilize the nanocarriers, the hydroxyl groups on both termini of PF127 were acrylated and reacted with methacrylated chondroitin sulfate (CSMA) to form CS-PF127 nanogel. The introducing CSMA has carboxylic acid groups which can be used to react with a folic acid-polyethylene glycol (FA-PEG). Folic acid, having high binding affinity to tumor-associated folate receptors (FR), provides a selective delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) to FR-positive tumor cells. DOX was loaded either in a cationic DOX.HCl form through the electrostatic interactions with the negative charges of chondroitin sulfate, or in a free DOX form by solubilization into the PPO core compartment of PF127. The loading efficiency and release behavior of DOX prepared from two different formulations are compared. The synthesis of CS-PF127 and FA-PEG grafted CS-PF127 (FA-CS-PF127) was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR), ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy (UV), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). With a fluorescent probe technique, the critical aggregation concentrations (CAC) are 7.5 x 10(-2)mg/mL for CS-PF127 and 7.9 x 10(-2)mg/mL for FA-CS-PF127, respectively. The spherical images of nanogels were visualized with the use of the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The particle diameters measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) are 299.6+/-8.2nm for CS-PF127 and 138.3+/-12.3 for FA-CS-PF127, neither aggregation nor change in sizes in double deionized (DD) water after 20 days. The better cellular uptake of FA-CS-PF127 in KB cells was evidenced by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and flow cytometry upon loading Rhodamine123 as a probe.