Kashima 34-m Radio Telescope

The Kashima 34-m radio telescope has been continuously operated and maintained by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) as a facility of the Kashima Space Technology Center (KSTC) in Japan. This brief report summarizes the status of this telescope, the staff, and activities during 2012

Circulating lymphocyte is an important determinant of the effectiveness of preoperative radiotherapy in advanced rectal cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although preoperative radiotherapy (RT) is widely used as the initial treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (RC) in the neoadjuvant setting, factors determining clinical response have not been adequately defined. In order to find other factors possibly related with radiosensitivity, we evaluated the relationships between circulating blood cell counts and RT effects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 179 cases with advanced RC, we retrospectively examined hemoglobin (Hb) levels and counts of white blood cells (WBC), platelets and WBC subsets before and after RT and investigated their associations with the complete response (CR) rate together with other clinicopathological factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ratio of lymphocytes in WBC taken before RT was significantly greater in 15 CR cases as compared with those in non-CR cases. Patients with high lymphocyte percentages (25.7%) showed better outcome than the counterparts. Conversely, the ratio of neutrophiles was reduced in CR cases. The lymphocyte ratio showed an independent association with CR with multivariate analysis, and tended to be maintained at relatively high levels in CR cases.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In RC patients, peripheral blood lymphocytes have a significant impact on the CR rate in response to RT. Lymphocyte-mediated immune reactions are supposed to have positive roles on clinical response in radiotherapy for RC.</p

Pigs as Models of Preclinical Studies and In Vivo Bioreactors for Generation of Human Organs

Pigs are valuable and essential large animal models for human medical applications, including for stem cell therapy. Moreover, substantial effort has been made to directly engraft genetically engineered pig organs in the human body and to use pigs as in vivo bioreactors for the growth and development of human cells, tissue, or organs. However, engraftment of human cells in pigs has not yet been achieved. Although severe combined immunodeficient pigs have been developed, which can accept human biological materials, these pigs do not have practical value at present owing to difficulty in their care. To overcome these current limitations, we have proposed the generation of operational immunodeficient pig models by simply removing the thymus and spleen, enabling the long-term accommodation of human tissue. In this review, we summarize research progress on xenotransplantation animal models that accept human cells, tissues, or organs

Alveolar soft part sarcoma: progress toward improvement in survival? A population-based study

Background Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare histological subtype of soft-tissue sarcoma, which remains refractory to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. We aimed to characterize ASPS and investigate whether the oncological outcome has improved over the past decade. Methods One hundred and twenty patients with newly diagnosed ASPS from 2006 to 2017, identified from the Bone and Soft-Tissue Tumor Registry in Japan, were analyzed retrospectively. Results The study cohort comprised 34 (28%) patients with localized ASPS and 86 (72%) with metastatic disease at presentation. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 68% for all patients and 86% and 62% for localized and metastatic disease, respectively (p = 0.019). Metastasis at presentation was the only adverse prognostic factor for DSS (hazard ratio [HR]: 7.65; p = 0.048). Patients who were > 25 years (80%; p = 0.023), had deep-seated tumors (75%; p = 0.002), and tumors > 5 cm (5-10 cm, 81%; > 10 cm, 81%; p < 0.001) were more likely to have metastases at presentation. In patients with localized ASPS, adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy did not affect survival, and 13 patients (45%) developed distant metastases in the lung (n = 12, 92%) and brain (n = 2, 15%). In patients with metastatic ASPS (lung, n = 85 [99%]; bone, n = 12 [14%]; and brain n = 9 [11%]), surgery for the primary or metastatic site did not affect survival. Prolonged survival was seen in patients who received pazopanib treatment (p = 0.045), but not in those who received doxorubicin-based cytotoxic chemotherapy. Overall, improved DSS for metastatic ASPS has been observed since 2012 (5-year DSS, from 58 to 65%) when pazopanib was approved for advanced diseases, although without a statistically significant difference (p = 0.117). Conclusion The national study confirmed a unique feature of ASPS with frequent metastasis to the lung and brain but an indolent clinical course. An overall trend toward prolonged survival after the introduction of targeted therapy encourages continuous efforts to develop novel therapeutic options for this therapeutically resistant soft-tissue sarcoma

Establishment of a new rehabilitation program using masticatory training food for jaw deformity patients

Background/purpose: Patients with jaw deformities may show a reduction in masticatory function as a result of postoperative hypofunction. This study aimed to establish a novel rehabilitation program using a commercially available masticatory training food for patients with jaw deformities after orthognathic surgery. Materials and methods: Nine patients with mandibular prognathism (the training group: n = 5, and the non-training group: n = 4) and 6 control participants with normal occlusion were included in this study. For the rehabilitation program with masticatory exercise, patients were instructed to chew the training food once a day for 60 days starting from 10 days after the surgery. The effects of the rehabilitation program were assessed by determining the maximum bite force (MBF) and the masticatory performance (MP). Clinical assessments were performed just before orthognathic surgery (Pre) and at 10 days (T0), 1 month (T1), 2 months (T2), and 3 months (T3) after surgery. Results: Compared with the non-training group, the training group showed a trend toward greater recovery amount of MBF from Pre to T3, and a significantly greater recovery amount in MP (p < 0.05) from Pre to T3. When the time-series change of MP was evaluated in both groups from T0 to T3, a significant difference was observed in the interaction terms (p = 0.03). This result indicates that the effectiveness of the training may be demonstrated by following the postoperative course further. Conclusion: The rehabilitation using this training food may become a useful method for postoperative hypofunction in patients with jaw deformities

A bacterial enzyme degrading the model lignin compound β-etherase is a member of the glutathione-S-transferase superfamily

AbstractCleavage of β-aryl ether linkages is essential in lignin degradation. We identified another β-etherase gene (ligF), which contains an open reading frame of 771 bp and lies between genes coding Cα-dehydrogenase (ligD) and β-etherase (ligE). The β-etherase activity of LigF expressed in Escherichia coli was more than 80 times as high as that of LigE. ligF and ligE are homologous to glutathione-S-transferase, and upon addition of glutathione a remarkable acceleration of β-etherase activity was found in E. coli carrying ligF. It is concluded that LigF plays a central role in β-aryl ether cleavage and that glutathione is the hydrogen donor in this reaction

Functional training after orthognathic surgery

Background/purpose: Even after surgical orthodontic treatment, the level of masticatory function in patients with jaw deformities is still lower than that of healthy subjects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of functional training program using gum chewing exercise after orthognathic surgery on masticatory function in patients with mandibular prognathism. Materials and methods: The study subjects were 16 patients with mandibular prognathism who underwent orthognathic surgery and 8 individuals with normal occlusion. Patients were divided into two groups (training group and non-training group; n = 8 per group). Functional training included gum chewing exercise and patient-education about masticatory function. The training; gum chewing exercise of 5 min twice a day for 90 days, started at 3 months after surgery. For each subject, electromyographic activities of masseter and temporalis muscles during maximum voluntary clenching (MVC) and jaw movement during gum chewing were recorded before and after surgical orthodontic treatment. Two parameters; activity index (AI: ratio of activity of masseter and temporalis muscles) and error index (EI: ratio of the number of abnormal chewing patterns), were used. Results: In the training group, the AI value during MVC increased significantly and the EI value during gam chewing decreased significantly after surgical orthodontic treatment (AI: p < 0.01; EI: p < 0.01), indicating the improvement of activity balance of masseter and temporalis muscles and conversion of the jaw movement from abnormal to normal pattern (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Our findings suggested that functional training using the gum chewing and patient-education exercise improved masticatory function in patients with mandibular prognathism

LIPUS effect on lateral tooth movement

Introduction: Because mechanical stimulation of the periodontal ligament (PDL) by low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has been shown to increase the speed of bone remodeling, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of LIPUS stimulation on the rate of tooth movement and bone remodeling during lateral tooth movement. Methods: Twelve-week-old Wistar rats were divided into two groups. The LIPUS group received experimental tooth movement with LIPUS stimulation, and the tooth movement (TM) group had experimental tooth movement without LIPUS. For the LIPUS and TM groups, the upper right first molars were moved labially with fixed appliances. LIPUS exposure was placed in the region corresponding to the right maxillary first molar. Three days after tooth movement, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) was examined. Fourteen days after tooth movement, the intermolar width, bone mineral content (BMC), and bone volume fraction (BV/TV) were examined by micro computed tomography (micro-CT), and newly formed bone was measured histomorphometrically. Results: The number of TRAP-positive cells at the compressed region was obviously greater in the LIPUS group. The intermolar width was significantly greater in the LIPUS group than in the TM group. The alveolar bone around the maxillary first molar showed no differences in BMC or BV/TV between the LIPUS and TM groups. The LIPUS group exhibited a significantly greater amount of newly formed alveolar bone than the TM group. Conclusions: The present study provides evidence of the beneficial effects of LIPUS on the lateral tooth movement

Treatment decision of camouflage or surgical orthodontic treatment for skeletal Class III patients based on analysis of masticatory function

Background/purpose: Surgical orthodontic treatment is recommended for patients with severe dentoskeletal discrepancies, while camouflage orthodontic treatment is recommended for patients with mild to moderate discrepancies. However, the decision as to which treatment should be chosen is complicated. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in masticatory function in patients who underwent camouflage and surgical orthodontic treatment for skeletal Class III malocclusion, as well as the usefulness of Wits appraisal in treatment decision based on masticatory functional analysis. Materials and methods: The study subjects were 45 patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion (15 cases with camouflage orthodontics and 30 cases with orthognatic surgery) and 12 individuals with normal occlusion. We analyzed the pre-treatment records of electromyographic activities of masseter and temporalis muscles and jaw movements. Results: There were no significant differences in various functional measurements between the camouflage and surgery groups. However, there were significant but not strong correlations between ANB and both masseter muscle activity (r = 0.36, p < 0.01) and expression ratio of abnormal chewing (r = −0.54, p < 0.01). Division of patients into two groups using a cutoff value of −6.0 mm for Wits appraisal showed a significant difference in masseter muscle activity between −6.0 mm or less group and the control (p < 0.01) but none between more than −6.0 mm group and the control. Conclusion: Camouflage orthodontic treatment is inappropriate for patients with relatively severe dentoskeletal discrepancies. Wits appraisal of −6.0 mm is a potentially useful parameter for treatment decision