An Experimental Hemodynamic Study of the Pelvic Collateral Circulation

Iliac arteries were occluded in adult mongrel dogs to investigate pelvic hemodynamics. When the unilateral common iliac artery was occluded, the blood flow making a &#34;stopover&#34; within the pelvis was found to be significantly less than that of anatomical hemodynamics even under a resting condition. The blood flow decreased more significantly under exercise loading than under a resting condition, which demonstrates the presence of the &#34;steal&#34; phenomenon. This only occurs in the collateral circulation in the pelvis formed by two arterial systems which are related in a series. In deciding the appropriacy of reconstruction for the internal iliac artery in patients with aorto-iliac occlusive disease, this &#34;steal&#34; phenomenon should be kept in mind. In most cases, ischemic symptoms in pelvic organs may be due to a simple decrease of the blood flow supplied to the pelvis, or due to the &#34;steal&#34; phenomenon. If the pelvic region is in the state of ischemia owing to the &#34;steal&#34; phenomenon, reconstruction of the blood vessels flowing into the pelvis is not required.</p

Establishment of automated culture system for murine induced pluripotent stem cells

Abstract Background Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can differentiate into any cell type, which makes them an attractive resource in fields such as regenerative medicine, drug screening, or in vitro toxicology. The most important prerequisite for these industrial applications is stable supply and uniform quality of iPS cells. Variation in quality largely results from differences in handling skills between operators in laboratories. To minimize these differences, establishment of an automated iPS cell culture system is necessary. Results We developed a standardized mouse iPS cell maintenance culture, using an automated cell culture system housed in a CO2 incubator commonly used in many laboratories. The iPS cells propagated in a chamber uniquely designed for automated culture and showed specific colony morphology, as for manual culture. A cell detachment device in the system passaged iPS cells automatically by dispersing colonies to single cells. In addition, iPS cells were passaged without any change in colony morphology or expression of undifferentiated stem cell markers during the 4 weeks of automated culture. Conclusions Our results show that use of this compact, automated cell culture system facilitates stable iPS cell culture without obvious effects on iPS cell pluripotency or colony-forming ability. The feasibility of iPS cell culture automation may greatly facilitate the use of this versatile cell source for a variety of biomedical applications.</p