ダウン症候群児の咀嚼機能獲得に関連する要因の検討

Down syndrome (DS) has the highest prevalence of any chromosomal abnormality identified in newborns. DS children have specific eating and swallowing difficulties such as poor tongue control, mouth opening, swallowing food without chewing, and both facial and occlusal abnormalities. DS children are also at high risk of aspiration, and swallowing food without chewing is considered to be a factor associated with increased risk of aspiration and eating problems. This study aimed to identify factors preventing the acquisition of masticatory function in DS children. The subjects were 75 outpatient DS children (44 males, age range 12 to 36 month-old, mean age 33.0 ± 7.0 month­-old; 31 females, age 12 to 36 month-old, mean age 20.8 ± 8.0 month-old), who had not yet acquired masticatory function, out of 319 who visited the clinic between October 2012 and October 2017. The information necessary for assessment was retrospectively extracted from the medical records of the subjects. The items examined included age, birth weight, nutritional intake, picky eating, tactile hyperesthesia, cognitive development assessed by Ohta stage, gross motor function, occlusal condition by Hellman's dental age, and tongue thrust/lip closure/mastication while eating. The relationships between the acquisition of masticatory function and these items were investigated after one year of rehabilitation. The revealed age, low birth weight, picky eating, and gross motor function to be relevant factors. Among these, gross motor function was found to be the factor most strongly associated with acquisition of masticatory function

Overexpression of DNA Polymerase ζAffects Cisplatin Resistance in Ovarian Cancer: An Immunohistochemical Study

DNA polymerase ζ (Pol ζ) participates in translesional bypass replication. Pol ζ has been shown to be an important contributor to cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II)(DDP; cisplatin) -induced genomic instability and the subsequent emergence of resistance in vitro. We immunohistochemically examined the expression of Pol ζ in ovarian cancer tissues to determine whether its expression affects the DDP resistance of human ovarian cancers and also to determine whether Pol ζ expression is a prognostic factor for ovarian cancers. We assessed 76 archival, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples obtained from patients with epithelial ovarian cancers who underwent their first operation between 2003 and 2011. An ovarian cancer tissue array was also used in this study. Immunohistochemical staining of Pol ζ was performed using an anti-human Pol ζ monoclonal rabbit antibody. The strength of expression of Pol ζ was compared with the DDP resistance and clinical features of the study population. The Pol ζ over-expression in ovarian cancer tissue which compared with epithelial cells in normal ovaries was not affected by the histological types, FIGO stage, or patient age, but Pol ζ was significantly more overexpressed in the DDP-resistant group than in the DDP-sensitive group (P = 0.043). Pol ζ over-expression did not significantly affect the survival rate of the ovarian cancer patients; however, the Pol ζ positive group tended to have a poorer long-term prognosis. In conclusion, ovarian carcinoma patients with Pol ζ over-expression are likely to be resistant to DDP, especially in cases of recurrent disease. These results confirm the previous findings in vitro, wherein Pol ζ modulated the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of DDP

Case report: First isolation of Exophiala dermatitidis from subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis in a cat

Phaeohyphomycosis, which is caused by the opportunistic black yeast-like fungus Exophiala dermatitidis, has been reported in humans and dogs. However, no previous studies describing E. dermatitidis infections in cats have been published. Herein, we report a case of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by E. dermatitidis. A 12-year-old, castrated male Japanese domestic short-haired cat presented with a solitary subcutaneous abscess on the left side of the neck, where an esophageal tube for force-feeding had been placed previously. The cat was diagnosed with hepatitis and was treated with prednisolone. The subcutaneous abscess was incised using a scalpel blade and the pus was excreted. The cytology of the pus revealed hyphae with neutrophil and macrophage infiltration. Although the cat was treated with oral itraconazole or an infusion of topical ketoconazole cream applied to the lesion, it died. The fungal culture of the pus specimen developed dark-green, waxy, smooth, yeast-like colonies. Sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1–4 regions of the ribosomal DNA of the pus specimen showed 100% identity with that of the standard strains of E. dermatitidis. Based on these results, the cat was diagnosed with subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by E. dermatitidis. The antifungal susceptibility test revealed that the fungus showed low or moderate susceptibility to the antifungal drugs examined, except for amphotericin B, which exhibited high in vitro antifungal activity. This is the first case report to provide definitive evidence of E. dermatitidis infection in cats and antifungal susceptibility test results against clinically isolated E. dermatitidis

Physiological effects of natural flagrance of “CEDROL” and cedrol for application to aromatherapy

匂い物質は，嗅覚神経系を介して行動発現や自律神経機能の調節などに関与する神経系（大脳辺縁系および視床下部）を賦活することにより，アロマセラピーの効果発現に関与していることが示唆されている．セドロールは，セダーウッド油から抽出した天然香料であり，セドロールを含むセダーウッドエッセンスはアロマセラピーに用いられていることから，自律神経機能に及ぼす作用が期待される．そこでセドロールを実験的に健常人に上気道から吸入させると，副交感神経の活動が有意に増大し，交感神経系の活動が有意に低下した．さらに，喉頭全摘除術を受けた被験者を用いて，上気道を介さずに下気道からセドロールを直接吸入させると，同様の効果が認められた．以上から，セドロールは嗅覚神経系だけでなく肺の迷走神経系を介して，交感神経系の活動や精神緊張を低下させる作用を有することが示唆された．これらのことは，セドロールがアロマセラピーに有用であることを示唆する．Odor substance is suggested to induce clinical effects of aromatherapy by stimulating the brain areas（limbic system and hypothalamus）involved in emotion and autonomic control through the olfactory system. Effects of pure compound （Cedrol） extracted from cedar wood oil on the cardiovascular system were investigated since cedar wood essence, which includes Cedrol, has been applied to aromatherapy. Vaporized Cedrol were presented to healthy human subjects via a face mask, which decreased sympathetic activity and increased parasympathetic activity. In the subsequent experiment, vaporized Cedrol was directly inhaled through the lower airway from a hole in the trachea of the totally laryngectomized subjects, but not through the upper airway. The experiment using the totally laryngectomized subjects replicated the similar results in healthy subjects who inhaled Cedrol through the nose. These results suggest that Cedrol acts on the peripheral nervous system （vagus nerve） innervating the lower airway and pulmonary system as well as the olfactory system in the upper airway. These results suggest usefulness of Cedrol for aromatherapy

女性高齢者に対する尿失禁の改善と筋力維持，バランス機能向上を目指した運動教室の評価

女性高齢者に対する尿失禁の改善と筋力維持、バランス機能向上を目指した運動教室プログラムを評価するため、尿失禁の程度、身体機能、筋肉量の測定結果を実施前後で比較した。対象者は日常生活に問題のない地域在住の65歳以上の女性高齢者で、脳血管障害及び神経系の疾患既往がなく、尿失禁自覚のある14名である。運動教室は週１回12週間行った。その結果、全員が尿失禁の改善傾向を示し、6名の尿失禁自覚が消失した。尿失禁における自覚症状・QOLを評価するICIQ-SF得点は、有意に減少した。身体機能では動的バランス機能が有意に向上し、体幹筋肉量及び下肢筋力は維持されていた。これらの結果から運動教室プログラムの有効性が示唆された。また、ICIQ-SF得点と開眼片足立ちに相関がみられ尿失禁と静的バランス機能との関連が示唆された

Associations between the orexin (hypocretin) receptor 2 gene polymorphism Val308Ile and nicotine dependence in genome-wide and subsequent association studies

Impact of the HCRTR2 gene risk variant on schizotypal personality traits (mean ± SD). (DOC 54 kb

SHARAQ Project: Progress in 2009

On March 23, 2009, the first beam was successfullytransported to the final focal plane of the SHARAQspectrometer. We investigated detector responses toheavy-ion beams and the ion optical properties ofthe SHARAQ spectrometer1) and the high-resolutionbeam line2) in the subsequent commissioning runs andfound that the system as a whole worked almost as perits design. The first physics run with the spectrometerwas performed in November 2009. In this article, wereview the progress in the SHARAQ project in 2009

ϕ\phi meson production in dd++Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

The PHENIX experiment has measured $\phi$ meson production in $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV using the dimuon and dielectron decay channels. The $\phi$ meson is measured in the forward (backward) $d$-going (Au-going) direction, $1.2<y<2.2$ ($-2.2<y<-1.2$) in the transverse-momentum ($p_T$) range from 1--7 GeV/$c$, and at midrapidity $|y|<0.35$ in the $p_T$ range below 7 GeV/$c$. The $\phi$ meson invariant yields and nuclear-modification factors as a function of $p_T$, rapidity, and centrality are reported. An enhancement of $\phi$ meson production is observed in the Au-going direction, while suppression is seen in the $d$-going direction, and no modification is observed at midrapidity relative to the yield in $p$$+$$p$ collisions scaled by the number of binary collisions. Similar behavior was previously observed for inclusive charged hadrons and open heavy flavor indicating similar cold-nuclear-matter effects.Comment: 484 authors, 16 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. v1 is the version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C. Data tables for the points plotted in the figures are given in the paper itsel