Two Cases of Unilateral Ashy Dermatosis

Ashy dermatosis is a typically asymptomatic disease of unknown origin that causes symmetrical gray spots to appear on the trunk and extremities. We report 2 cases of ashy dermatosis with unilateral distribution. To our knowledge, only 5 cases of ashy dermatosis with unilateral lesion have been reported so far. Case 1: an 11-year-old woman presented with asymptomatic slate-gray pigmented plaques on the left trunk and left upper arm. The skin biopsy specimen demonstrated a mild lymphohistiocytotic infiltrate in the upper dermis with epidermal and dermal melanosis. Q-Switched ruby laser did not improve such lesions. Case 2: a 21-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of asymptomatic slate-gray pigmented plaques on the left trunk and left upper arm. Histopathological findings were compatible with a mild lymphocytic infiltration with melanin incontinence in the upper dermis. The mechanism that governs unilateral distribution of ashy dermatosis, including in our cases, remains unclear

Discordance between hyposalivation and xerostomia

Individuals with an objective decrease in salivary flow (objective dry mouth) may not be aware of subjective dry mouth (xerostomia). However, no clear evidence exists to explain the discordance between subjective and objective dry mouth. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of xerostomia and decreased salivary flow among community-dwelling elderly adults. In addition, this study assessed several potential demographic and health status determinants of the discrepancy between xerostomia and reduced salivary flow. The 215 participants in this study were community-dwelling older people aged 70 years and above who underwent dental health examinations between January-February 2019. Symptoms of xerostomia were collected in the form of a questionnaire. The unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR) was measured by a dentist using visual inspection. The stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR) was measured using the Saxon test. We identified 19.1% of participants as having mild-severe USFR decline with xerostomia and 19.1% as having mild-severe USFR decline without xerostomia. Additionally, 26.0% of participants had low SSFR and xerostomia, and 40.0% had low SSFR without xerostomia. Except for the age trend, no factors could be associated with the discordance between USFR measurement and xerostomia. Furthermore, no significant factors were associated with the discordance between the SSFR and xerostomia. However, females were significantly associated (OR = 2.608, 95% CI = 1.174–5.791) with low SSFR and xerostomia, as compared to males. Age was a factor that was also significantly associated (OR = 1.105, 95% CI = 1.010–1.209) with low SSFR and xerostomia. Our findings indicate that approximately 20% of the participants had low USFR without xerostomia, and 40% had low SSFR without xerostomia. This study showed that age, sex, and the number of medications may not be factors in the discrepancy between the subjective feeling of dry mouth and reduced salivary flow

パラオで採集した海洋糸状菌TUF98F139株が生産する微少管重合阻害活性物質

東京水産大学海洋環境学科東京水産大学海洋環境学科東京水産大学海洋環境学科東京大学分子細胞生物学研究所東京水産大学練習船海鷹丸東京水産大学練習船海鷹

Evolution of oxygen isotopic composition in the inner solar nebula

Changes in the chemical and isotopic composition of the solar nebula with time are reflected in the properties of different constituents that are preserved in chondritic meteorites. CR carbonaceous chondrites are among the most primitive of all chondrite types and must have preserved solar nebula records largely unchanged. We have analyzed the oxygen and magnesium isotopes in a range of the CR constituents of different formation temperatures and ages, including refractory inclusions and chondrules of various types. The results provide new constraints on the time variation of the oxygen isotopic composition of the inner (<5 AU) solar nebula - the region where refractory inclusions and chondrules most likely formed. A chronology based on the decay of short-lived 26Al (t1/2 ~ 0.73 Ma) indicates that the inner solar nebula gas was 16O-rich when refractory inclusions formed, but less than 0.8 Ma later, gas in the inner solar nebula became 16O-poor and this state persisted at least until CR chondrules formed ~1-2 Myr later. We suggest that the inner solar nebula became 16O-poor because meter-size icy bodies, which were enriched in 17,18O due to isotopic self-shielding during the ultraviolet photo dissociation of CO in the protosolar molecular cloud or protoplanetary disk, agglomerated outside the snowline, drifted rapidly towards the Sun, and evaporated at the snowline. This led to significant enrichment in 16O-depleted water, which then spread through the inner solar system. Astronomical studies of the spatial and/or temporal variations of water abundance in protoplanetary disks may clarify these processes.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figure

Augmented single-unit muscle sympathetic nerve activity in heart failure with chronic atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication in heart failure (HF) patients. However, it remains unclear whether irregular ventricular response patterns induced by AF increase sympathetic nerve activity. We measured resting multi- and single-unit muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) in 21 age-matched HF patients with chronic AF (n= 11) rhythm or sinus rhythm (SR, n= 10). The multi-unit MSNA, which was expressed as total activity, was similar between HF + AF patients and HF + SR patients. However, the single-unit MSNA in HF + AF patients was significantly greater than that in HF + SR patients (62 ± 9 spikes min -1vs. 42 ± 4 spikes min -1, P < 0.05). Moreover, the incidence of multiple firing of single-unit MSNA within a given burst was augmented in HF + AF patients as compared with HF + SR patients (48 ± 8%vs. 26 ± 3%, P < 0.01). A significant negative relationship was observed between the reduced diastolic pressure induced by a prolonged cardiac interval in AF subjects and single-unit MSNA frequency within one cardiac interval in each HF + AF subject. The firing characteristics of single-unit MSNA were different between HF patients with AF and HF patients with SR; particularly, those with a prolonged long RR interval showed multiple firings of single-unit MSNA. These findings suggest that AF per se leads to the instantaneous augmentation of single-unit MSNA induced by decreased diastolic pressure, which might partially contribute to disease progression in HF patients. © 2012 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2012 The Physiological Society

分子軌道法による化学吸着の研究(A. 理学)

A molecular orbital study was carried out to investigate the chemisorption of gaseous molecules onto the transition metal surfaces. In the adsorption of hydrogen, ethylene and carbon monoxide onto the nickel and platinum surfaces, the bonding of adsorbates was remarkably weakened at the sites of surface defects called steps and kinks. The mechanism of the bond weakening was explained in terms of the charge transfer between the adsorbate and the surface atoms. The chemisorptive interactions of the transition metals with the different number of d electrons were examined and compared with each other. The adsorption of acetylene and carbon monoxide was investigated using the nickel, platinum and tungsten surfaces. The d orbitals of nickel and platinum contribute to only the charge transfer from metal surfaces to adsorbates, while they contribute to the charge transfer in both directions in tungsten. So the interactions were much stronger than those in nickel and platinum, and the dissociation of adsorbed molecules was much easier in tungsten

家計管理へのパーソナルコンピュータの導入について : 家計調査から見た家計収支の記録(B. 生活科学)

パーソナルコンピュータを用いた家計管理の方法について, 家計簿記帳を中心に問題点とその解決方法についての考察を行った。また, 多くの家庭に対して家計簿の記録データを集計することにより, 消費動向に関する基礎資料が得られる点に着目し, そのために家計簿プログラムが備えるべき機能, 記録データの内部構造等について, 詳細な検討を行った。さらにコンピュータによる家計診断の可能性について, 一つの提案を行なった

グルコース,マルトースおよびラミナラビオースの安定構造とコンフォメーション解析についての再考 : 経験的力場計算法の応用(B. 生活科学)

The full optimized structures of glucose are obtained by means of empirical force field (MM2) and abinitio moleculer orbital (MO) calculations. The calculated bond lengths, bond angles and dihedral angles are in good agreement with the data from X ray crystal analysis. The most stable conformation and conformation energy map are calculated for maltose and laminarabiose employing the MM2 method. The results are consistent with the earlier works by Kitamura et al. as to the bond angle and dihedral angles at the most stable conformation. However both methods give quite different features of energy map. The structural relaxation of glucose residue is found essentially important in order to calculate the energy map by the MM2 method