Median alveolar cleft and palatal mass without a median upper cleft lip

Median cleft is rare among facial clefts, including bilateral and unilateral clefts. Median upper cleft lip and median alveolar cleft correspond to Type 14 and Type 0, respectively, in Tessier's classification system. Some authors have reported surgical procedures for median cleft. In the case of median alveolar cleft, bone grafting to the cleft side and orthodontics are generally applied, similarly to bilateral or unilateral cleft. Median alveolar cleft is usually accompanied by median upper cleft lip, the degree of which differs in each case. The symptoms include, but are not limited to, median lip defect, wide philtrum, and vermilion notch. However, an isolated alveolar cleft is extremely rare. We encountered a patient with an isolated alveolar cleft who did not have a light median upper cleft lip, such as a wide philtrum or vermilion notch. We herein report this case and describe its treatment

Safety of Silk-elastin Sponges in Patients with Chronic Skin Ulcers: A Phase I/II, Single-center, Open-label, Single-arm Clinical Trial

Background: Although traditional wound dressings such as collagen scaffolds promote granulation tissue formation, the efficacy of these dressings in chronic wounds is limited because of high susceptibility to bacterial growth. Biomaterials that can be applied to chronic wounds should have an anti-bacterial function. We previously reported that administering a silk-elastin solution that forms moisturizing hydrogels to wound surfaces of diabetic mice reduced bacterial growth and promoted granulation tissue formation compared with control or carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels. We hypothesized that silk-elastin promotes wound healing in human chronic wounds by suppressing bacterial growth. Methods: An open-label, clinical case series was conducted with a prospective, single-arm design at Kyoto University Hospital in Kyoto, Japan. In this study, 6 patients with chronic skin ulcers of any origin (2 < ulcer area (cm2) < 25) on their lower extremities were included; patients with critical ischemia were excluded. Silk-elastin sponges were applied and covered with a polyurethane film without changing the dressing for 14 days. Inflammation triggered treatment discontinuation due to fear of infection. The primary study endpoint was adverse events, including inflammation and infection. Results: Poor hydrogel formation, possibly due to continuous exudation, was observed. No serious adverse events were noted. Two patients discontinued treatment on day 6 and day 7, respectively, due to inflammation, but they were not infected. The other 4 patients completed the 14-day silk-elastin sponge treatment without infection. Conclusion: Silk-elastin sponge is safe for chronic skin ulcers, and its ability to promote wound healing should be determined by confirmatory clinical trials

Reconstitution of amoeboid motility in vitro identifies a motor-independent mechanism for cell body retraction

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Current Biology 21 (2011): 1727-1731, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.08.047.Crawling movement in eukaryotic cells requires coordination of leading edge protrusion with cell body retraction [1-3]. Protrusion is driven by actin polymerization along the leading edge [4]. The mechanism of retraction is less clear; myosin contractility may be involved in some cells [5] but is not essential in others [6-9]. In Ascaris sperm, protrusion and retraction are powered by the major sperm protein (MSP) motility system instead of the conventional actin apparatus [10-11]. These cells lack motor proteins [12] and so are well-suited to explore motor-independent mechanisms of retraction. We reconstituted protrusion and retraction simultaneously in MSP filament meshworks, called fibers, that assemble behind plasma membrane-derived vesicles. Retraction is triggered by depolymerization of complete filaments in the rear of the fiber [13]. The surviving filaments reorganize to maintain their packing density. By packing fewer filaments into a smaller volume the depolymerizing network shrinks and thereby generates sufficient force to move an attached load. Thus, this work provides direct evidence for motorindependent retraction in the reconstituted MSP motility system of nematode sperm. This mechanism could also apply to actin-based cells and may explain reports of cells that crawl even when their myosin activity is compromised.This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R37-GM29994). N.N. was supported by an NIH grant (R01-EB002583) to Rudolf Oldenbourg

Postoperative assessment after AVR and TAVI

Background and aims : Severe aortic stenosis (AS) has been normally treated with surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) whereas recently, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been introduced as a minimally invasive operation for patients with high surgical risk and frailty. In this study, we have evaluated postoperative physical function and nutrition intake in the patients following AVR and TAVI. Methods : This prospective observational study involved 9 patients with surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) and 7 patients with transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Body composition was measured one day prior surgery, postoperative day (POD) 1, POD 3, POD 5 and POD 7. Hand grip strength, calf circumference and gait speed were measured one day before surgery and on the day of discharge. Results : Skeletal muscle was significantly decreased in AVR patients at postoperative day 3 and 7, while there was no change in TAVI patients. Patients with TAVI showed higher dietary intake after surgery compared to patients with AVR, and they maintained hand grip strength and calf circumference at discharge. Conclusions : In elderly patients with AS, TAVI can improve post-operative recovery maintaining nutritional status and physical function even

High-resolution seismic reflection profiling across the surface rupture associated with the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake, central Japan : data acquisition and processing

The 200.4 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake (Mj 6.8) generated surface ruptures along the eastern rim of the Uonuma hills. To reveal the relationship between a seismogenic source fault and surface ruptures, shallow, high-resolution seismic reflection profiling was undertaken across the surface ruptures and the active faults. The seismic source was a mini-vibrator and seismic data were recorded by a digital telemetry system. The source and receiver interval was 10 m4 The seismic data were processed using conventional CMP seismic reflection methods. The resultant depth-converted seismic section portrays an emergent thrust beneath the surface rupture associated with the Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake