[Purpose] Heart failure has been identified as a risk factor for reduced physical function and falls; however, the impact of heart failure on functional recovery after a hip fracture is unclear. This study aimed to examine how heart failure and pre-fracture physical function affect recovery after a hip fracture. [Participants and Methods] The study population consisted of 122 patients with sub-acute hip fracture (mean age 81.7 ± 9.7 years, 18.9% male) who were divided into two groups: heart failure and non-heart failure. The outcome measurement was the functional independence measure effectiveness. A two-way analysis of variance was performed to investigate how heart failure and ambulatory ability prior to hip fracture were related to the functional independence measure effectiveness. [Results] Seventeen patients (13.9%) had a history of heart failure. The two-way analysis of variance showed the two independent variables (heart failure and ambulatory ability before fracture) had significant main effects; however, their interaction effect was not significant. [Conclusion] Heart failure affects functional recovery after hip fracture independent of the pre-fracture physical function, and vice versa. Further research on rehabilitation in hip fracture patients with heart failure is required to develop strategies to overcome poor functional recovery in such patients.

For the purpose of broadening the available genetic resources to improve wheat breeding and to elucidate wheat evolution, 16 accessions of Aegilops tauschii newly collected in North Caucasia named NCT accessions were characterized genetically based on morphology, chloroplast SSR variation and AFLP. Ae. tauschii is one of the most important wild wheat genetic resources because it is the progenitor of the D genome of hexaploid wheat. Since Caucasia is considered to be a center of diversity of both cultivated and wild wheat, a lot of studies have been conducted to evaluate the diversity of Caucasian genetic resources including Ae. tauschii. Such kind of analyses, however, focused on Transcaucasia but little attention has been paid to North Caucasia because of the lack of available genetic resources. Based on the molecular analyses in this study, the 16 NCT accessions were generally divided into two groups although morphologically those are classified into the same subspecies. The grouping also represented geographical distribution, that is, the northern part group and Derbent group. This division is consistent with the two major genepools in Ae. tauschii reported in previous studies. The northern part and Derbent groups correspond to Eurasian wide genepool (called Tauschii genepool) and Caucasia and Caspian coast limited genepool (Strangulata genepool), respectively. Regarding to chloroplast, all the 16 accessions were genotyped as HG7, the most major haplogroup of the species. Although all the 16 NCT accessions were categorized into ssp. tauschii morphologically, accessions of Derbent group showed a tendency to have larger spikelets. Among at almost the largest level in ssp. tauschii. The results of this study filled the missing information of Ae. tauschii and will be helpful for future utilization.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of an expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) program on the voluntary cough intensity of elderly individuals.[Subjects] The subjects of the study were 21 elderly residents in a nursing care center who did not have any respiratory disease. Ten of them (aged 80.6 ± 8.6 years old) were assigned to the EMST group, and the other 11 subjects (aged 76.7 ± 9.3 years old) were assigned to the control group.[Methods] Each subject in the EMST group underwent 5 weeks of training using a Threshold® PEP, an expiratory muscle training device, and in which the pressure was adjusted to 50% of the maximum expiratory pressure. Training was performed twice daily, and each session consisted of 2 sets of 15 breaths. As endpoints, the maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and peak cough flow (PCF) were measured.[Results] After 5 weeks, no significant changes were observed in the control group, while in terms of the MEP, PEF and PCF, significant increases were observed in the EMST group.[Conclusion] The study results suggest that the EMST program is effective for increasing voluntary cough intensity, which is greatly required for expiratory muscle strength, of elderly residents in a nursing facility.