[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of mental practice on stroke patients’ upper extremity function and activities of daily living (ADL). [Subjects and Methods] In this study, 29 stroke patients were randomly assigned to two groups: an experimental group (n=14) and a control group (n=15). The experimental group performed 10 minutes of mental practice once a day, 5 days a week for 2 weeks in combination with conventional rehabilitation therapy. For the control group, general rehabilitation therapy was provided during the same sessions as the experimental group. The Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and the Fugl-Myer assessment (FMA) were used to measure upper extremity function, and the Modified Bathel Index (MBI) was used to measure daily activity performance. [Results] After the intervention, the mental practice group showed significant improvements in upper extremity function on the affected side and ADL scores compared to the control group. [Conclusion] The results of this study demonstrate mental practice intervention is effective at improving stroke patients’ upper extremity function and daily activity performance. In follow-up studies, securing a greater number of experimental subjects, and evaluation of the intervention’s therapeutic durability are required.

Background Unique among cnidarians, jellyfish have remarkable morphological and biochemical innovations that allow them to actively hunt in the water column and were some of the first animals to become free-swimming. The class Scyphozoa, or true jellyfish, are characterized by a predominant medusa life-stage consisting of a bell and venomous tentacles used for hunting and defense, as well as using pulsed jet propulsion for mobility. Here, we present the genome of the giant Nomura’s jellyfish ( Nemopilema nomurai ) to understand the genetic basis of these key innovations. Results We sequenced the genome and transcriptomes of the bell and tentacles of the giant Nomura’s jellyfish as well as transcriptomes across tissues and developmental stages of the Sanderia malayensis jellyfish. Analyses of the Nemopilema and other cnidarian genomes revealed adaptations associated with swimming, marked by codon bias in muscle contraction and expansion of neurotransmitter genes, along with expanded Myosin type II family and venom domains, possibly contributing to jellyfish mobility and active predation. We also identified gene family expansions of Wnt and posterior Hox genes and discovered the important role of retinoic acid signaling in this ancient lineage of metazoans, which together may be related to the unique jellyfish body plan (medusa formation). Conclusions Taken together, the Nemopilema jellyfish genome and transcriptomes genetically confirm their unique morphological and physiological traits, which may have contributed to the success of jellyfish as early multi-cellular predators. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12915-019-0643-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), an innate immunity-driven local inflammation, remains the major problem in clinical organ transplantation. T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM-3) – Galectin-9 (Gal-9) signaling regulates CD4+ Th1 immune responses. Here, we explored TIM-3 – Gal-9 function in a clinically relevant murine model of hepatic cold storage and orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). C57BL/6 livers, preserved for 20h at 4°C in UW solution, were transplanted to syngeneic mouse recipients. Up-regulation of TIM-3 on OLT-infiltrating activated CD4+ T cells was observed in the early IRI phase (1h). By 6h of reperfusion, OLTs in recipients treated with a blocking anti-TIM-3 Ab were characterized by: 1/ enhanced hepatocellular damage (sALT levels, liver Suzuki's histological score); 2/ polarized cell infiltrate towards Th1/Th17-type phenotype; 3/ depressed T cell exhaustion markers (PD-1, LAG3); and 4/ elevated neutrophil and macrophage infiltration/activation. In parallel studies, adoptive transfer of CD4+ T cells from naïve WT, but not from TIM-3 Tg donors, readily recreated OLT damage in otherwise IR-resistant RAG−/− test recipients. Furthermore, pre-treatment of mice with rGal-9 promoted hepatoprotection against preservation-association liver damage, accompanied by enhanced TIM-3 expression in OLTs. Thus, CD4+ T cell-dependent “negative” TIM-3 costimulation is essential for hepatic homeostasis and resistance against IR stress in OLTs.

Coral reefs composed of stony corals are threatened by global marine environmental changes. However, soft coral communities of octocorallian species, appear more resilient. The genomes of several cnidarians species have been published, including from stony corals, sea anemones, and hydra. To fill the phylogenetic gap for octocoral species of cnidarians, we sequenced the octocoral, Dendronephthya gigantea , a nonsymbiotic soft coral, commonly known as the carnation coral. The D. gigantea genome size is ∼276 Mb. A high-quality genome assembly was constructed from PacBio long reads (29.85 Gb with 108× coverage) and Illumina short paired-end reads (35.54 Gb with 128× coverage) resulting in the highest N50 value (1.4 Mb) reported thus far among cnidarian genomes. About 12% of the genome is repetitive elements and contained 28,879 predicted protein-coding genes. This gene set is composed of 94% complete BUSCO ortholog benchmark genes, which is the second highest value among the cnidarians, indicating high quality. Based on molecular phylogenetic analysis, octocoral and hexacoral divergence times were estimated at 544 MYA. There is a clear difference in Hox gene composition between these species: unlike hexacorals, the Antp superclass Evx gene was absent in D. gigantea . Here, we present the first genome assembly of a nonsymbiotic octocoral, D. gigantea to aid in the comparative genomic analysis of cnidarians, including stony and soft corals, both symbiotic and nonsymbiotic. The D. gigantea genome may also provide clues to mechanisms of differential coping between the soft and stony corals in response to scenarios of global warming.

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