To separate at-risk drivers from safe drivers, a composite driving indicator was calculated from the Test Ride for Investigating Practical Fitness to Drive score, the penalty score from the observation grid, and the number of safety interventions made by the driving instructor. Eight of the 40 drivers (all PD) were rated as at risk. Measures of updating (the n-back task) and mental flexibility (the plus-minus task) predicted driving safety even after adjustment for group status, explaining 53% of

the total variance. These 2 tests also discriminated between safe and at-risk drivers within the PD group. These findings, although preliminary, suggest Selleck CP456773 that updating and mental flexibility are critical for safe driving in PD. Assessment batteries for driving JQ1 datasheet fitness should probe different aspects of executive functions, specifically when evaluating drivers with PD. (c) 2013 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society”
“An anaerobic rod-shaped thermophile was isolated from a hydrothermal vent at Suiyo Seamount, Izu-Bonin Arc, western Pacific Ocean, and was named strain MN14(T). The rods were Gram-negative-staining, non-motile without flagella, 2-4 mu m long and 0.5 mu m wide, and divided by binary fission in the mid-exponential phase. The cells were surrounded by a sheath-like structure (toga) and occurred singly or in chains. Spheroids containing multiple cells were observed not only in the stationary

AG-881 phase, as previously observed for species of the order Thermotogales, but also from the early exponential phase. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the peptidoglycan in rods partly disintegrated in the early growth phases and that the outer membrane of the spheroids was not completely lined with peptidoglycan. These findings suggested that the spheroids were formed from rods by the disintegration of peptidoglycan and subsequent inflation of the outer membrane. The spheroids eventually generated tiny cells

in the periplasmic space, indicating a viviparous mode of proliferation in addition to binary fission. Strain MN14(T) grew at 40-75 degrees C, pH 5.0-8.2 and with 0.25-5.20% (w/v) NaCl, with optimal growth occurring at 68 degrees C, pH 6.8 and with 2.5% NaCl. The shortest doubling time was 24 min, assuming that the strain propagated only by binary fission. Elemental sulfur enhanced growth, but was not essential. Thiosulfate was not an electron acceptor for growth. The strain was a chemo-organotroph that grew on yeast extract as the sole growth substrate. Tryptone and starch supported its growth in the presence of yeast extract. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 31.7 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that this strain belonged to the genus Thermosipho. No significant DNA-DNA hybridization was observed between the genomic DNA of strain MN14(T) and phylogenetically related species of the genus Thermosipho.