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This study was designed to construct normative physical fitness scores for older, functionally independent adults living in the community. The Physical Activities Readiness Questionnaire and Barthel Index were initialized to screen those who have heart illness, arthritis, and functional dependence. After providing informed consent, each participant was instructed to perform seven tests in five categories, including body mass index, muscle strength/endurance (grasp test and 30-s chair stand test), balance (open-eye stand on right foot), flexibility (chair sit-and-reach test), and aerobic endurance (2- and 3-min step tests with preset cadence). Twenty-two assessors were recruited and trained by a physical fitness instructor to ensure acceptable interrater reliability. The valid sample size was 1,104. Test performances were significantly different for male and female participants for all test categories, with the exception of aerobic endurance. Mean scores of all tests correlated negatively with age. The authors constructed the percentile distributions for the seven fitness tests for both genders. Results are expected to be helpful in assessing physical fitness and evaluating physical activity in older adults.

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Purpose: Androgen receptor-independent prostate cancers do not respond to androgen blockage therapies and suffer from high recurrence rate. We aim to contribute to the establishment of novel therapeutic approaches against such malignancies. Materials and Methods: We examined whether and how cold atmospheric plasma delivers selectivity against AR-independent prostate cancers via cell viability, transwell assay, wound healing, cell apoptosis assay, flow cytometry, intracellular hydrogen peroxide determination assay, RONS scavenger assay and western blot using human normal epithelial prostatic cells PNT1A and AR-negative DU145 prostate cancer cells. Results: We show that cold atmospheric plasma could selectively halt cell proliferation and migration in androgen receptor-independent cells as a result of induced cell apoptosis and G0/G1 stage cell cycle arrest, and such outcomes were achieved through modulations on the MAPK and NF-kB pathways in response to physical plasma induced intracellular redox level. Conclusion: Our study reports cold atmospheric plasma induced reduction on the proliferation and migration of androgen receptor-independent prostate cancer cells that offers novel therapeutic insights on the treatment of such cancers, and provides the first evidence on physical plasma induced cell cycle G0/G1 stage arrest that warrants the exploration on the synergistic use of cold atmospheric plasma and drugs such as chemotherapies in eradicating such cancer cells.

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. microRNA-140-5p (miR-140) has been shown to be involved in cartilage development and osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. Some contradictions still exist concerning the role of miR-140 in tumor progression and metastasis, and the underlying mechanism is uncertain.MethodsImmunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expressions of ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5 in CRC tissues. Human CRC cell lines HCT116 and RKO were transfected with miR-140 mimic, inhibitor, or small interfering RNA (siRNA) against ADAMTS5 or IGFBP5, respectively, using oligofectamine or lipofectamine 2000. Scratch-wound assay and transwell migration and invasion assays were used to evaluate the effects of miR-140 on the capabilities of migration and invasion. The levels of miR-140 and ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5 mRNA were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Western blot was performed to examine the expression of ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5 proteins.ResultsmiR-140 was significantly reduced, whereas ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5 were upregulated, in the human CRC tissues compared to the corresponding normal colorectal mucosa. miR-140 downregulation and ADAMTS5 or IGFBP5 overexpression were associated with the advanced TNM stage and distant metastasis of CRC. There was a reverse correlation between miR-140 levels and ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5 expression in CRC tissues. ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5 were downregulated by miR-140 at both the protein and mRNA levels in the CRC cell lines. The gain-of- and loss-of-function studies showed that miR-140 inhibited CRC cell migratory and invasive capacities at least partially via downregulating the expression of ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that miR-140 suppresses CRC progression and metastasis, possibly through downregulating ADAMTS5 and IGFBP5. miR-140 might be a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of CRC.