Association between masticatory ability and oral functions

Mastication is the process of breaking ingested food with the teeth and mixing it with saliva to form a mass that is easy to swallow. However, few studies have reported on oral functions, such as occlusal force, tongue pressure, and mastication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between masticatory function and oral functions, such as occlusal force and tongue pressure. In this study, there were 113 patients (41 men and 72 women; mean age, 68.4 ± 11.3 years) who visited dentists at the Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan between April 2015 and November 2018. Masticatory function of the patients was evaluated using a masticatory ability test system. In addition, occlusal force was measured using a pressure-sensitive film and the maximum tongue pressure was measured with a tongue pressure measuring device according to a conventional method. The relationship of masticatory ability with occlusal force and tongue pressure was examined using multivariate analysis while considering patients? age, gender, and the number of remaining teeth. Masticatory ability was significantly related to occlusal force, maximum tongue pressure, age, body mass index, the number of remaining teeth, and occlusal contact area (p< 0.05). Multiple regression analysis identified that masticatory ability was significantly associated (p< 0.05) with occlusal force and maximum tongue pressure. Masticatory ability was significantly associated with occlusal force and maximum tongue pressure, indicating that the large muscle mass in the oral cavity is indispensable for improving masticatory function

Treatment of injuries in emergency departments: characteristics of victims and place of injury, São Paulo State, Brazil, 2005

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar as características e local de ocorrência dos atendimentos decorrentes de causas externas em unidades de emergência. Foram analisados 35.107 atendimentos, realizados em três unidades de emergência do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, em 2005. Entre os resultados, a maioria das vítimas foi do sexo masculino (59,1%) e da faixa etária de 0 a 29 anos (62,1%). As causas mais freqüentes foram quedas (39,3%) e impacto acidental (16,5%). Na residência ocorreram 64,7% dos casos e na via pública 19,9%. Agressões foram mais freqüentes na via pública. Nas residências há maior probabilidade das mulheres sofrerem lesões que os homens (OR = 0,51; IC95%: 0,48-0,53). Na via pública, a probabilidade dos homens virem a ser vítimas de lesões é 1,34 vez a das mulheres, nos bares é 3,22 vezes, no local de trabalho é 2,82 vezes. Maior proporção de eventos em residências foi observada para as faixas de 0 a 9 anos e de 60 anos e mais. Esses resultados ressaltam a residência como importante local de ocorrência de lesões, devendo ser objeto de programas de prevenção específicos.The objective of this study was to analyze the characteristics and place of occurrence of injuries treated in emergency departments. A total of 35,107 emergency department visits for injuries were analyzed, excluding traffic injuries, in São Paulo State, Brazil, 2005. The majority of victims were male (59.1%), and from 0 to 29 years of age (62.1%). Leading causes were falls (39.3%) and accidental blows (16.5%). Most injuries occurred in the home (64.7%), followed by public places (19.9%). Assaults were more frequent in public. Women were more likely to suffer injuries at home, as compared to men (OR = 0.51; 95%CI: 0.48-0.53). Men were 1.34 times more likely to be injured in public places, 3.22 times in bars, and 2.82 times in the workplace. A higher proportion of events among children aged 0 to 9 and individuals 60 years or older occurred at home. The results highlighted the home as an important place for the occurrence of injuries, which should be considered when planning injury prevention programs.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography of Neonatal Periventricular Leukomalacia

We describe herein single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 99mTc HM-PAO of a patient with neonatal cystic periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). The patient, who was a low birth weight infant of 27 weeks gestation weighing 1,290 g, had suffered from respiratory distress syndrome. Following surfactant replacement therapy, mechanical ventilation were carried out six days after birth. Serial cranial ultrasonography (US) showed periventricular high-echoic lesions followed by cyst formation at three weeks of age. Although cystic PVL was markedly observed on both cranial US and MRI, a SPECT study initially revealed no abnormal distribution of rCBF. A chronological SPECT study at nine months of age revealed decreased rCBF of 10% in the left hemisphere as compared to the contralateral side. At the time decreased rCBF was observed on SPECT, periventricular cyst formation tended to disappear on simultaneous MRI. It is known that PVL is an infarction which affects all the cellular elements of the white matter and may lead to abnormal myelination. SPECT studies may also useful to clarify the cerebral function in neonatal PVL

Evaluation of Source Generators in Partial Seizures : Availability of Neuroradiological Images Superimposed on the Dipole Tracing

To clarify the anatomical localization of epileptic foci in childhood partial seizures, the source generators of interictal focal spikes were analyzed using a dipole tracing method and the effectiveness of a composite image diagnostic technique using neuroradiological images obtained by magnetic resonance imaging and single photon emission computed tomography was evaluated. The localization of electric source generators approximately reflects the abnormal lesions on neuroradiological images. However, the source generators tended to be located in the deep and/or peripheral parts of the abnormal regions. Even though systemic shifts in the position of optimal dipoles from their true positions is a limitation that must be taken into consideration, composite image diagnostic technique may be useful for evaluating the epileptogenic regions in partial seizures, and particularly, in children where noninvasive methods are preferable

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection