Persister cells, or persisters, are a specific subpopulation of bacterial cells that have acquired temporary antibiotic-resistant phenotypes. In this study, we showed that Escherichia coli produces many more persister cells in colony–biofilm culture than in the usual liquid culture and that these persisters can be maintained in higher numbers than those from liquid culture for up to 4 weeks at 37°C in a fresh, nutrient-rich, antibiotic-containing medium, even after complete withdrawal from the colony–biofilm culture. This suggests the presence of a long-retention effect, or “memory effect”, in the persister cell state of E. coli cells. We also discovered that such increases in persisters during colony–biofilm culture and their memory effects are common, to a greater or lesser degree, in other bacterial species. This is true not only for gram-negative bacteria (Acinetobacter and Salmonella) but also for gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus and Bacillus). This is the first report to suggest the presence of a common memory mechanism for the persister cell state, which is inscribed during colony–biofilm culture, in a wide variety of bacteria.

Minimizing the number of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can reduce patient burden. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate whether physical therapists (PTs) can estimate psychological PROM scores in patients with low back pain (LBP) through physical therapy evaluation. The secondary aims were; 1) to investigate whether the clinical experiences of PTs influence correlations between PT estimates and psychological PROM scores, and 2) to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of PT estimates for the psychological features detected by the PROMs. We recruited hospitalized patients owing to LBP, who underwent evaluation by PTs on the initial day of hospitalization. Patients completed PROMs, including the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale immediately before the initial physical therapy session. PTs rated the magnitude of patient kinesiophobia, pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression using an 11-point numerical rating scale (NRS; 0 = not detected at all, 10 = very highly detected) through physical therapy evaluation immediately after the initial session. The PTs were blinded to the PROM results. We categorized PTs into two subgroups (PTs with �4 years and those with <4 years of clinical experience). Data from 78 patients (mean [SD] age = 60.5 [16.3] years) and 21 PTs were analyzed. A statistically significant but weak correlation (P = .04, Spearman's ρ = .24) was detected only in the total PCS scores and PT NRS scores in a dataset of all patients and PTs. Further, there were no statistically significant differences in correlations (all P >.05) between the two subgroups of PTs in all measures. Low sensitivity and high specificity of PT estimates for psychological features through physical therapy evaluation were identified in all PROMs when PT NRS scores were categorized into the binary score by 5 (negative: <5; positive: �5).

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-Purpose. Lutein is a carotenoid mainly found in green leafy vegetables and is located in the macula lutea in the human eye. It has received much attention recently due to its preventive effect on age-related macular degeneration, and it has been consumed as a supplement. However, little information about the pharmacokinetic properties of lutein is available. Detailed knowledge of pharmacokinetic properties of lutein is needed for the development of pharmaceutics. In this study, we focused on the macular accumulation of lutein and investigated the uptake mechanism into human retinal pigment epithelial cells. Methods. ARPE-19 cells were used for the study on the accumulation mechanism of lutein. The concentration of lutein was determined using an HPLC system. Involvement of scavenger class B type 1 (SR-B1) in the accumulation of lutein in ARPE-19 cells was suggested from the results of an inhibition study using block lipid transport 1 (BLT-1), a selective inhibitor of SR-B1. To investigate the involvement of SR-B1 in more detail, small interfering RNA (siRNA) was transfected and the mRNA and protein expression levels of SR-B1 were assessed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively. Results. We confirmed a sufficient siRNA knockdown effect in both mRNA and protein expression levels of SR-B1. We then found that lutein uptake was significantly decreased by siRNA knockdown of SR-B1. Conclusion. The uptake of lutein was significantly decreased by 40% compared with the control uptake level. This suggested that active transport of lutein into ARPE-19 cells is mainly via SR-B1, given the result that lutein uptake at 4ºC was about 40% less that that at 37ºC.

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