Does Decision-Making Speed Depend on Non-interactive Others?

This study examined the influence that the mere presence of others (i.e., non-interactive) has on the decision-making speed of individuals. The study compared four conditions: a participant executing a given task by himself or herself, or with another person next to him or her and executing the same task either quickly, at a normal speed, or at a slow speed. The results of these comparisons showed that when the other person made decisions quickly, a participant’s decision-making sped up to align with that of the other person. Interestingly, even when a participant’s decision-making speed was accelerated under the influence of the other person’s decision-making speed, there appeared to be no difference in the participant’s degree of satisfaction with the results, compared to when making decisions at his or her own pace. Furthermore, the study results showed that the physical presence of another person was essential to transmitting decision-making speed: transmission did not occur after attempts were made to manipulate speed solely through the use of artificial sound

Three-dimensional-printed soft kidney model for surgical simulation of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: A proof-of-concept study.

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Establishment and evaluation of the suspension culture system for umbilical cord- derived mesenchymal stromal cells

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from various tissues including bone marrow, adipose and umbilical cord tissues have been shown to modulate aberrantly activated immune system. With the features, MSC-based therapies targeting graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) by the administration of bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) have been available in some countries including Japan, and the expectations for the stable and cost effective supply system are getting higher and higher recently. However, the conventional culture systems which usually use plastic flask or multi-chamber equipment require space and manpower, thus the maximal expansion of MSCs at one production is likely to be limited. To compensate the limitation, repetitive productions have been unavoidable, and higher the production cost. Here, we introduced a new suspension-culture system, using micro-carriers and single-use-bioreactors, for the preparation of MSCs in anticipation of establishment of mass production system. Since the umbilical cord (UC) tissues can be collected through noninvasive procedure, and UC-derived MSCs (UC-MSCs) are shown to present higher proliferation rate and lower immunogenicity in comparison with BM-MSCs, we evaluated the potential and the versatility of UC-MSCs for the treatment of several diseases including GvHD. Results from several in vitro assays demonstrated that our new culture system maintains major key characteristics of MSCs, such as adhesiveness to cell culture surface, the expression of cell surface markers, differentiation capacities toward osteoblasts, chondroblasts, and adipocytes, and immunosuppressive effects on activated T cells. We are currently investigating cellular profiles and characteristics which are specific to the cells prepared in our suspension-culture system through meta-analysis. The established suspension-culture system is presumed to attain the mass production of UC-MSCs, contributing to lower the cost and also providing possible applications for MSCs from other origins

Local Release of C-Reactive Protein From Vulnerable Plaque or Coronary Arterial Wall Injured by Stenting

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to assess local release of C-reactive protein (CRP) from atherosclerotic plaques or the vessel wall injured by stenting.BackgroundRecent research has focused on the local production of CRP, especially in inflammatory atherosclerotic plaques.MethodsThe study consisted of two separate protocols. In protocol 1, we measured serum high-sensitivity-CRP (hs-CRP) levels in coronary arterial blood sampled just distal and proximal to the culprit lesions in 36 patients with stable angina and 13 patients with unstable angina. In protocol 2, we measured serial serum hs-CRP levels and activated Mac-1 on the surface of neutrophils in both coronary sinus and peripheral blood in 20 patients undergoing coronary stenting.ResultsIn protocol 1, CRP was higher in distal blood than proximal blood in both stable (p < 0.05) and unstable angina (p < 0.01). The translesional CRP gradient (distal CRP minus proximal CRP, p < 0.05) as well as the proximal CRP (p < 0.05) and distal CRP (p < 0.05) was higher in unstable angina than in stable angina. In protocol 2, the transcardiac CRP gradient (coronary sinus minus peripheral blood) and activated Mac-1 increased gradually after stenting, reaching a maximum at 48 h (p < 0.001 vs. baseline for both). There was a positive correlation between the transcardiac CRP gradient and activated Mac-1 at 48 h (r = 0.45, p < 0.01).ConclusionsC-reactive protein is an excellent marker for plaque instability or poststent inflammatory status, and its source might be the inflammation site of the plaque or the coronary arterial wall injured by stenting