40 and .49). The present study shows that not only data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but also from structural diffusion tensor

imaging (DTI) provide interesting insights into the biological foundation of human personality traits. (C) 2012 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Little is known regarding the relationship between overall diet quality and physical performance among older adults. We examined the association between overall diet quality, as measured by the US Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005), and physical performance, as measured by gait speed (n = 2,132) and PSI-7977 in vitro knee extensor power (n = 1,392), among adults aged 60 years or older.

Using data from the 1999-2002 National

Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, multiple linear regression models controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, smoking status, comorbidities, medication use, cognitive Nutlin-3 purchase function, body mass index, and physical activity were used in the analyses.

After adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and smoking status, total HEI-2005 scores were positively associated with both gait speed (p for trend = .02) and knee extensor power (p for trend = .05). Older adults with higher HEI-2005 scores had a faster gait speed (p = .03 for both Quartile 3 and Quartile 4 vs quartile 1) compared with those with HEI-2005 scores in the lowest quartile. Those with HEI-2005 scores in Quartile 4 had a greater knee extensor power compared with those with HEI-2005 scores in the lowest quartile (p = .04). The associations between HEI-2005 scores and UNC2881 physical performance remained after further adjustment for comorbidities, medication use, cognitive function, and body mass index. However, the associations were no longer statistically significant after further adjustment for physical activity.

Adherence to overall dietary recommendations is associated with better physical performance

among older adults.”
“The culture of microorganisms has been the basis of microbiology. However, revolutionary tools such as metagenomics have made it possible to describe uncultivated bacteria, but several breakthroughs have occurred in culture leading to a revival of these techniques. In this review we focus on new applications that have successfully cultivated previously uncultivated bacteria. We also review the axenic cultivation of intracellular bacteria such as Tropheryma whipplei and Coxiella burnetii. These successes provide new tools for the design of axenic media for intracellular bacteria, such as Rickettsiae and Chlamydiae, or historically uncultivable pathogens, such as Mycobacterium leprae and Treponema pallidum. The future axenic culture of these microorganisms will facilitate antibiotic susceptibility testing and will provide insight into their microbial ecology and pathogenicity.