Supply Management of Rental Housing Facilities: Effect of Changes in the Quality of Housing Equipment in the Tokyo Housing Rental Market

The Tokyo housing market is considered to be one of the fastest evolving markets in the world. In recent years, functions such as TV intercoms, bathroom dryers, system kitchens, and toilets with washlets, which are not often seen in European and US houses, have spread and become common in Japanese houses. Under such circumstances, the importance of various equipment ancillary to housing, together with the location and quality of the building, is increasingly a factor for determining the value of housing in Tokyo. This is because when a new product appears, the old product is ordered to be withdrawn from the market, or its commodity value is greatly depreciated. This study measured the economic value of improving the quality of housing with new equipment in the Tokyo rental housing market and clarified the extent of economic depreciation that is occurring due to obsolescence. According to the obtained results, new functions are being added sequentially to the Japanese rental housing according to the age of the building, and these functions are non-negligible in the determination of housing rent, even when compared with location and building structure. The effect of obsolescence due to the addition of new functions was roughly—5%

Skeletal Mandibular Protrusion with Impacted Ankylosed Teeth

Aim: To present a case of skeletal mandibular protrusion with multiple impacted ankylosed teeth, which were treated with conventional orthognathic surgery and alveolar corticotomy, respectively. Background: Tooth ankylosis is characterized by the fusion of a root surface with the surrounding alveolar bone. Various treatment modalities for tooth ankylosis have been developed and are used commonly in the clinic. Corticotomy is defined as the application of intentional surgical injury to the cortical bone to mobilize a tooth with the adjacent bone and soft tissues. The corticotomy technique has been improved in recent years to avoid possible risks such as periodontal damage, tooth devitalization, and osseous necrosis due to an inadequate blood supply. Case description: A female patient aged 16 years and 3 months was diagnosed with anterior crossbite and the impaction and ankylosis of multiple canines. After the confirmation of ankylosis, alveolar corticotomy was performed on the maxillary left and mandibular right canines. After 6 months of traction (patient age, 19 years and 7 months), both canines had extruded successfully. After the completion of preoperative treatment, bilateral intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy was performed to correct the anterior crossbite involving a skeletal mandibular protrusion. The amounts of mandibular setback on the right and left sides were approximately 7 and 5 mm, respectively. The total treatment period was 55 months. Acceptable occlusion with a balanced profile was maintained over a 5-year retention period, indicating the long-term stability and success of the treatment. Conclusion: Our results indicate that alveolar corticotomy should be considered to facilitate the treatment of multiple impacted ankylosed teeth. Clinical significance: This report proposes an efficacy of alveolar corticotomy for extrusion of impacted ankylosed teeth

Effects of five-minute internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy and simplified emotion-focused mindfulness on depressive symptoms: a randomized controlled trial

Simplified Emotion-focused Mindfulness Exercise (English translation, original in Japanese). (DOCX 37 kb

Structure of SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein essential for virus assembly

新型コロナウイルスのウイルス形成に必須の膜タンパク質の構造を解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-08.The coronavirus membrane protein (M) is the most abundant viral structural protein and plays a central role in virus assembly and morphogenesis. However, the process of M protein-driven virus assembly are largely unknown. Here, we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the SARS-CoV-2 M protein in two different conformations. M protein forms a mushroom-shaped dimer, composed of two transmembrane domain-swapped three-helix bundles and two intravirion domains. M protein further assembles into higher-order oligomers. A highly conserved hinge region is key for conformational changes. The M protein dimer is unexpectedly similar to SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a, a viral ion channel. Moreover, the interaction analyses of M protein with nucleocapsid protein (N) and RNA suggest that the M protein mediates the concerted recruitment of these components through the positively charged intravirion domain. Our data shed light on the M protein-driven virus assembly mechanism and provide a structural basis for therapeutic intervention targeting M protein

Clinical survey of orthodontic treatment covered by national health insurance in the Department of Orthodontics, Tokushima University Hospital : Presence of cleft lip and palate in congenital craniofacial disorders

矯正歯科治療に健康保険が導入されて約40年が経過し，唇顎口蓋裂と顎変形症の他に2018年現在53項目が保険治療の対象になっている．今回，我々は当科における矯正歯科治療の保険適用患者の実態を調査し，特に唇顎口蓋裂と他の先天性疾患との関連性について臨床統計学的検討を行ったので報告する．徳島大学病院病院情報システム・データウェアハウスを用い，2008年1月から2018年12月までの11年間に当院矯正歯科を受診した患者から保険治療を受けている患者を抽出し，顎変形症単独症例を除く先天性疾患患者について，電子カルテ全文検索システムを用いて臨床統計学的検討を行った．研究対象期間に当科にて保険治療を受けた矯正患者は345人で，そのうち，本研究対象患者は，顎変形症単独症例を除く207人であった．患者の内訳は，裂奇形を主徴候とする症例が全体の5割を占め最も多く，次いで，6歯以上の先天性部分性無歯症，ゴールデンハー症候群（鰓弓異常症を含む），ダウン症候群の順であった．また，症候性疾患の中で裂奇形の併発は，ピエール・ロバン症候群，ダウン症候群，ゴールデンハー症候群の順に多く，その裂型は，口蓋裂（軟口蓋裂を含む），唇顎口蓋裂，唇裂の順に多かった．以上のことから，当病院は裂奇形を併発した先天性疾患への専門的な対応が不可欠であり，希少疾患にも柔軟に対応できるよう複数の診療科，職種による診療科の枠組みを超えたチーム医療体制の構築が必要であることが示唆された

Comparison of Behçet's Disease and Recurrent Aphthous Ulcer According to Characteristics of Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystemic chronic inflammatory disease. It is characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, uveitis, skin lesions and other manifestations, including neurologic, vascular, joint, and gastrointestinal ulcers of variable severity. Recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU) represents a very common, but poorly understood, mucosal disorder. If a patient of RAU without any other typical symptoms of BD has gastrointestinal symptoms, it is difficult to distinguish this RAU from true BD with gastrointestinal involvement. Because pathognomonic clinical features and tools are absent, the differential diagnosis of these two diseases relies on the characteristic clinical features and the judgement of an experienced physician. Sixty-five out of a total 960 RAU patients and forty-four of 556 BD patients with gastrointestinal symptoms between January 1996 and December 2003 participated in this study. All were evaluated with esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy. Clinical, endoscopic and histopathologic findings were analyzed and ELISA tests were conducted to detect serum levels of ASCA and pANCA. No significant difference was found between the two groups. Differential diagnosis between RAU with gastrointestinal symptoms and BD with gastrointestinal involvement requires further prospective, large-scale study

TAK1 inhibition in myeloma

Along with the tumor progression, the bone marrow microenvironment is skewed in multiple myeloma (MM), which underlies the unique pathophysiology of MM and confers aggressiveness and drug resistance in MM cells. TGF-β-activated kinase-1 (TAK1) mediates a wide range of intracellular signaling pathways. We demonstrate here that TAK1 is constitutively overexpressed and phosphorylated in MM cells, and that TAK1 inhibition suppresses the activation of NF-κB, p38MAPK, ERK and STAT3 in order to decrease the expression of critical mediators for MM growth and survival, including PIM2, MYC, Mcl-1, IRF4, and Sp1, along with a substantial reduction in the angiogenic factor VEGF in MM cells. Intriguingly, TAK1 phosphorylation was also induced along with upregulation of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) in cocultures with MM cells, which facilitated MM cell-BMSC adhesion while inducing IL-6 production and receptor activator of nuclear factor κ-Β ligand (RANKL) expression by BMSC. TAK1 inhibition effectively impaired MM cell adhesion to BMSC to disrupt the support of MM cell growth and survival by BMSC. Furthermore, TAK1 inhibition suppressed osteoclastogenesis enhanced by RANKL in cocultures of bone marrow cells with MM cells, and restored osteoblastic differentiation suppressed by MM cells or inhibitory factors for osteoblastogenesis overproduced in MM. Finally, treatment with the TAK1 inhibitor LLZ1640-2 markedly suppressed MM tumor growth and prevented bone destruction and loss in mouse MM models. Therefore, TAK1 inhibition may be a promising therapeutic option targeting not only MM cells but also the skewed bone marrow microenvironment in MM

The Regulators of VEGF Expression in Mouse Ovaries

The objectives of this study were to explore whether ovarian vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in mice can be regulated by IL-6 (interleukin-6), angiotensin II, FSH, and hCG; and to test whether the mouse ovarian VEGF expression can result in angiogenesis. The ICR mice were sacrificed, and their ovaries were recovered. Recovered ovaries were treated with IL-6, angiotensin II, FSH, and hCG separately and incubated for 24 hours in α-MEM. Expression of mRNA and protein of VEGF were assessed by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. The resulting angiogenesis was evaluated through immunohistochemical analysis for CD34. Treatment of mice ovaries with IL-6, FSH, and hCG resulted in a significant increase of VEGF mRNA, and IL-6 was the most potent inducer of VEGF. IL-6 and FSH resulted in increased neovascularization in the follicular phase of mouse ovaries. In contrast, angiotensin II could not increase VEGF expression or neovascularization. We documented an in vitro increase in VEGF expression by IL-6, FSH, and hCG; and reaffirmed that the proliferative response of murine ovarian endothelial cells paralleled an increase of VEGF expression