コンピューターシミュレーションを用いた骨格性II級患者の理想的輪郭の評価

歯科矯正医と下顎の後退を持つ患者がそれぞれ理想と感じる輪郭の違いを評価するために、コンピューターシミュレーションシステムを開発した。対象は、骨格性II級の男性患者11名とした。非接触三次元スキャナーを用いて、被験者頭部の正面および両側面を計測し、顔面形状モデルを作成した。計測は、咬合位と咬合位から下顎を5mm前方移動させた状態で行った。その後、歯科矯正医と患者それぞれが、顔下部に定義した5点をコンピューター上で動かし、理想とする顔貌に変形させた。その結果を比較したところ、両者に違いを認め、患者群は下顎が後方に位置していることに対する認識が低いことが明らかになった

顎顔面軟組織の弾性に対するTwin Block Appliance療法の効果

下顎後退によるクラスII不正咬合患者13名(男6名、女7名、平均9.8±1.4歳)を対象に、顎顔面軟組織の弾性に及ぼすTwin Block Appliance(TBA)療法の効果について調べた。クラスI不正咬合患者14名(男7名、女7名、平均9.2±1.7歳)を対照とした。クラスII患者にはTBAを施した。初診時、左鼻翼と口角の中点、右鼻翼と口角の中点、soft tissue pogonionの弾性値は対照群に比べクラスII群で有意に低かった。TBA療法の結果、クラスII群は下顎の前方成長と下顎前歯の唇側傾斜を示した。1年後、軟組織の弾性値は対照群と変わらなかった

Early bioprosthetic valve calcification with alfacalcidol supplementation

We report a case of early bioprosthetic valve calcification in a 76 year-old woman who had received supplementation with alfacalcidol, an analogue of vitamin D, for 3 years after her initial valve replacement. She underwent aortic valve replacement at the age of 71 and subsequently complained of shortness of breath. Ultrasonic cardiography revealed severe aortic stenosis and we performed a second aortic valve replacement with a bioprosthesis. Histopathologic and x-ray examination showed calcification on the explanted valve. She had not presented with any known risk for early bioprosthetic calcification, suggesting that vitamin D supplementation may accelerate calcification of bioprosthetic valves.ArticleJOURNAL OF CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY. 8:11 (2013)journal articl

INCS suppresses H1R gene expression

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of intranasal corticosteroid (INCS) administration on histamine H1 receptor (H1R) gene expression in the nasal mucosa of healthy participants and the effects of dexamethasone on basal and histamine-induced H1R mRNA expression, and histamine-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in HeLa cells. Sixteen healthy participants were given INCS once daily for a week. After pretreatment of dexamethasone, HeLa cells were treated with histamine. Levels of H1R mRNA and phosphorylation of ERK were measured using real time PCR and immunoblot analysis, respectively. Levels of H1R mRNA in the nasal mucosa of healthy participants receiving INCS was significantly decreased. Dexamethasone suppressed basal levels of H1R mRNA, and histamine-induced up-regulation of H1R mRNA and ERK phosphorylation in HeLa cells. These data suggested that corticosteroid inhibited both basal transcription and histamine-induced transcriptional activation of H1R through its suppression of ERK phosphorylation in the signaling pathway involved in H1R gene transcription. It is further suggested that pre-seasonal prophylactic administration of INCS suppresses both basal and pollen-induced upregulation of H1R gene expression in the nasal mucosa of patients with pollinosis, leading to prevention of the exacerbation of nasal symptoms during peak pollen season

Relaxin-3-Deficient Mice Showed Slight Alteration in Anxiety-Related Behavior

Relaxin-3 is a neuropeptide belonging to the relaxin/insulin superfamily. Studies using rodents have revealed that relaxin-3 is predominantly expressed in neurons in the nucleus incertus (NI) of the pons, the axons of which project to forebrain regions including the hypothalamus. There is evidence that relaxin-3 is involved in several functions, including food intake and stress responses. In the present study, we generated relaxin-3 gene knockout (KO) mice and examined them using a range of behavioral tests of sensory/motor functions and emotion-related behaviors. The results revealed that relaxin-3 KO mice exhibited normal growth and appearance, and were generally indistinguishable from wild genotype littermates. There was no difference in bodyweight among genotypes until at least 28 weeks after birth. In addition, there were no significant differences between wild-type and KO mice in locomotor activity, social interaction, hot plate test performance, fear conditioning, depression-like behavior, and Y-maze test performance. However, in the elevated plus maze test, KO mice exhibited a robust increase in the tendency to enter open arms, although they exhibited normal performance in a light/dark transition test and showed no difference from wild-type mice in the time spent in central area in the open field test. On the other hand, a significant increase in the acoustic startle response was observed in KO mice. These results indicate that relaxin-3 is slightly involved in the anxiety-related behavior

Self-Turn-on-Free 5V Gate Driving for 1200V Scaled IGBT

Negative biasing of the gate voltage in a scaled insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) during the off-state was modeled and found to be effective against self-turn-on failures. The required self-turn-on-free criteria were verified experimentally.31st IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD 2019), 19-23 May 2019, Shanghai, Chin

免疫組織化学法を用いた一側内耳破壊ラットの前庭代償の新しい評価法の開発

Background: Unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL) causes the disappearance of ipsilateral medial vestibular nuclear (ipsi-MVe) activity and induces spontaneous nystagmus (SN), which disappears during the initial process of vestibular compensation (VC). Ipsi-MVe-activity restores in the late process of VC. Objective: We evaluated the late process of VC after UL in rats and examined the effects of thioperamide (H3 antagonist) on VC. Materials and methods: MK801 (NMDA antagonist)-induced Fos-like immunoreactive (-LIR) neurons in contra-MVe, which had been suppressed by NMDA-mediated cerebellar inhibition in UL-rats was used as an index. Results: The number of MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons in contra-MVe gradually decreased to the same level as that of sham-operated rats 14 days after UL. Thioperamide moved the disappearance of the MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons 2 days earlier. The number of MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons in thioperamide-treated rats was significantly decreased, compared with that of vehicle-rats on days 7 and 12 after UL. But, thioperamide did not influence the decline of SN frequency in UL-rats. Conclusion: There findings suggested that the number of MK801-induced Fos-LIR neurons in contra-MVe was decreased in concordance with the restoration of ipsi-MVe-activity during the late process of VC after UL and that thioperamide accelerated the late, but not the initial process of VC

Supramolecular double-stranded Archimedean spirals and concentric toroids

Connecting molecular-level phenomena to larger scales and, ultimately, to sophisticated molecular systems that resemble living systems remains a considerable challenge in supramolecular chemistry. To this end, molecular self-assembly at higher hierarchical levels has to be understood and controlled. Here, we report unusual self-assembled structures formed from a simple porphyrin derivative. Unexpectedly, this formed a one-dimensional (1D) supramolecular polymer that coiled to give an Archimedean spiral. Our analysis of the supramolecular polymerization by using mass-balance models suggested that the Archimedean spiral is formed at high concentrations of the monomer, whereas other aggregation types might form at low concentrations. Gratifyingly, we discovered that our porphyrin-based monomer formed supramolecular concentric toroids at low concentrations. Moreover, a mechanistic insight into the self-assembly process permitted a controlled synthesis of these concentric toroids. This study both illustrates the richness of self-assembled structures at higher levels of hierarchy and demonstrates a topological effect in noncovalent synthesis