Development of joint movement patterns during gait in Japanese children aged 3-12 years.

Background: This study aimed to clarify the development of joint movement patterns during gait in Japanese children aged 3-12 years.

Methods: The participants included 92 children (25 in the 3-4 to year-old group, 28 in the 5-6 to year-old group, 20 in the 7-8 to year-old group, and 19 in the 9-12 to year-old group) and 21 young adults (adult group). Kinematic data during gait were recorded using a three-dimensional motion analysis system and four force plates.

Effect of Home-based Trunk Training on Reactive Stepping in Individuals with Chronic Stroke: A Single-subject Experimental Study with Two Cases.

Objectives: Reactive stepping is necessary to prevent falls when a person slips or trips while walking, particularly in outdoor activities. Individuals with stroke usually exhibit reactive balance impairment. Trunk training is effective for improving balance and mobility after stroke; however, its effect on reactive stepping remains unknown.

Reactive stepping behavior during dual tasking is related to falls in community-dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study.

Background: We investigated whether reactive stepping during dual tasking is associated with falls in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: In 78 healthy community-dwelling older adults, we evaluated quiet standing stability, limits of stability, and reactive stepping performance during single and dual tasking. Participants were suspended in a forward-leaning position using a lean control cable with a load of 12 % of their body weight and were instructed to regain balance upon release by taking steps forward.

Biofilm development as a factor driving the degradation of plasticised marine microplastics.

Biodegradation of microplastics facilitated by natural marine biofouling is a promising approach for ocean bioremediation. However, implementation requires a comprehensive understanding of how interactions between the marine microbiome and dominant microplastic debris types (e.g.

Secretoglobin 3A2 peptides have therapeutic potential for allergic airway inflammation.

Three isoforms of secretoglobin (SCGB) 3A2, namely type A, B, and C, are endogenously produced through alternative splicing. SCGB3A2 type A, the correctly spliced major type, begins to be expressed from embryonic day 11.5 in mice and shows various physiological activities such as promoting lung maturation and bronchial branching, anti-inflammatory effects, and ameliorating induced pulmonary fibrosis.

The effect of cognitive tasks on reactive stepping in young and older adults.

Background: Divided attention is commonly required in daily life, and to prevent falls, balance must be recovered when a person experiences unexpected perturbations. Previous studies have shown that additional cognitive tasks in postural responses negatively affect automatic postural responses. However, the effect of dual-tasking on reactive stepping performance is still not clearly understood.

Concern about falling is related to threat-induced changes in emotions and postural control in older adults.

Background: Concern about falling is reportedly related to mobility and balance in older adults. While increased concern about falling may be directly related to balance deficits, establishing a causal relationship remains limited. This study aimed to investigate whether concern about falling affects threat-induced changes in emotions and postural control in older adults.

Dual-task interference of reactive stepping kinematics for balance recovery strategies in older adults.

Objective: To characterize the interference of reactive stepping kinematics related to the increase or maintenance of the number of steps in response to a large perturbation during dual tasks among older adults.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that included 52 community-dwelling healthy older adults. Reactive stepping performance was analyzed after forward balance loss during a single task and a second cognitive task.

Microbes guide corals looking to find a home.

Coral reefs are facing unprecedented anthropogenic pressures impacting critical processes such as recruitment of juvenile corals. Through larval choice assays and co-occurrence network analyses, a recent study by Turnlund et al. identified microbial taxa within reef biofilms that positively correlate and therefore have potential key roles in inducing coral settlement.

Physical activity is associated with walking and balance ability but not fatigue, knee extension strength, or body composition in adults with cerebral palsy: a pilot cross-sectional study.

Common secondary impairments associated with aging in adults with cerebral palsy (CP) decrease physical functions, including walking and balance ability, and increase the sense of fatigue. This motor dysfunction results in decreased physical activity (PA) and could be associated with obesity and sarcopenia. This study examined the association of daily PA levels with fatigue, physical function, and body composition in 22 adults with CP (age, 37.

Microbial mat compositions and localization patterns explain the virulence of black band disease in corals.

Black band disease (BBD) in corals is characterized by a distinctive, band-like microbial mat, which spreads across the tissues and often kills infected colonies. The microbial mat is dominated by cyanobacteria but also commonly contains sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB), sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and other microbes. The migration rate in BBD varies across different environmental conditions, including temperature, light, and pH.

Developmental changes in straight gait in childhood.

Background: Understanding typical gait development is critical in developing suitable physical therapy methods for gait disorders. This study investigated the developmental changes and controlling mechanisms of straight gait.

Methods: We conducted an experimental procedure among 90 participants, including 76 typically developing children and 14 healthy adults.

Fidelity varies in the symbiosis between a gutless marine worm and its microbial consortium.

Background: Many animals live in intimate associations with a species-rich microbiome. A key factor in maintaining these beneficial associations is fidelity, defined as the stability of associations between hosts and their microbiota over multiple host generations. Fidelity has been well studied in terrestrial hosts, particularly insects, over longer macroevolutionary time.

Differential regulation of degradation and immune pathways underlies adaptation of the ectosymbiotic nematode Laxus oneistus to oxic-anoxic interfaces.

Eukaryotes may experience oxygen deprivation under both physiological and pathological conditions. Because oxygen shortage leads to a reduction in cellular energy production, all eukaryotes studied so far conserve energy by suppressing their metabolism. However, the molecular physiology of animals that naturally and repeatedly experience anoxia is underexplored.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Lateral Reactive Stepping in Individuals with Chronic Stroke.

We compared the spatiotemporal characteristics of lateral perturbation-induced reactive stepping in stroke subjects with those of age-matched controls. We subjected 12 stroke subjects and 17 healthy elderly controls to lateral stepping. We analyzed first-step spatiotemporal parameters during stepping and recorded the selected reactive step types at the stepping threshold.

Antennal transcriptome analysis of chemosensory genes in the cowpea beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.).

Olfaction, one of the most important sensory systems governing insect behavior, is a possible target for pest management. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the antennal transcriptome of the cowpea beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), which is a major pest of stored pulses and legumes.

Effects of Fear of Falling on the Single-Step Threshold for Lateral Balance Recovery in Older Women.

Background And Purpose: Fear of falling is associated with poor physical health and influences postural stability during whole-body movement. The ability to recover from lateral balance loss is required to prevent falls; however, the relationship between lateral balance recovery and fear of falling has not been established. This study aimed to investigate whether fear of falling is associated with the stepping threshold for lateral balance recovery.

Lemon myrtle extract inhibits lactate production by Streptococcus mutans.

Backhousia citriodora (lemon myrtle) extract has been found to inhibit glucansucrase activity, which plays an important role in biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans. In addition to glucansucrase, various virulence factors in S. mutans are involved in the initiation of caries.

Effects of cane use on walking parameters and lower limb muscle activity in adults with spastic cerebral palsy: a cross-sectional study.

[Purpose] Adults with cerebral palsy often use a cane as a walking aid because of their decreased gait ability. However, it is unclear whether this affects lower limb muscle activity during walking. The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of using a cane during walking on the spatio-temporal parameters of walking, lower limb muscle activity, and lower limb muscle coactivation in adults with spastic cerebral palsy.

Deep-sea mussels from a hybrid zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge host genetically indistinguishable symbionts.

The composition and diversity of animal microbiomes is shaped by a variety of factors, many of them interacting, such as host traits, the environment, and biogeography. Hybrid zones, in which the ranges of two host species meet and hybrids are found, provide natural experiments for determining the drivers of microbiome communities, but have not been well studied in marine environments. Here, we analysed the composition of the symbiont community in two deep-sea, Bathymodiolus mussel species along their known distribution range at hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, with a focus on the hybrid zone where they interbreed.

Development of temporal and spatial characteristics of anticipatory postural adjustments during gait initiation in children aged 3-10 years.

This study aimed to analyze the development of direction specificities of temporal and spatial control and the coordination pattern of anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) along the anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions during gait initiation (GI) in children aged 3-10 years. This study included 72 healthy children aged 3-10 years and 14 young adults. The child population was divided into four groups by age: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10 years.

High-Quality Draft Genome Sequences of the Uncultured Delta3 Endosymbiont (Deltaproteobacteria) Assembled from Metagenomes of the Gutless Marine Worm Olavius algarvensis.

Here, we present two high-quality, draft metagenome-assembled genomes of deltaproteobacterial OalgDelta3 endosymbionts from the gutless marine worm Their 16S rRNA gene sequences share 98% identity with Delta3 endosymbionts of related host species (GenBank accession no. AJ620501) and (GenBank accession no. FM202060), for which no symbiont genomes are available.

High-Quality Draft Genome Sequences of Two Deltaproteobacterial Endosymbionts, Delta1a and Delta1b, from the Uncultured Sva0081 Clade, Assembled from Metagenomes of the Gutless Marine Worm Olavius algarvensis.

Here, we present high-quality metagenome-assembled genome sequences of two closely related deltaproteobacterial endosymbionts from the gutless marine worm (Annelida). The first is an improved draft genome sequence of the previously described sulfate-reducing symbiont Delta1. The second is from a closely related, recently discovered symbiont of .

An XAFS study of Cs adsorption by the precipitation bands of Mn-Fe-based Prussian blue analogues spontaneously formed in agarose gel.

The adsorption of Cs ions by the precipitation bands of a Mn-Fe based Prussian blue analogue (Mn-Fe PBA) that form spontaneously in agarose gel was investigated by X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) distribution analysis. Two gel samples were prepared by contacting a gel containing 0.05 M [Fe(CN)] and 2.