Early morning upper airway discomfort and appearance on two X ray films

We reported a case of reversible but severe upper airway stenosis. The patient complained of only slight discomfort in her throat after waking: she had a history of allergic reaction to contrast medium. Her X ray films showed severe edema in her pharynx. Epiglottitis was diagnosed and we started treatment. It should not be forgotten, that even mild symptoms, such as discomfort in the throat, could indicate the existence of severe epiglottitis

Early morning upper airway discomfort and appearance on two X ray films

We reported a case of reversible but severe upper airway stenosis. The patient complained of only slight discomfort in her throat after waking: she had a history of allergic reaction to contrast medium. Her X ray films showed severe edema in her pharynx. Epiglottitis was diagnosed and we started treatment. It should not be forgotten, that even mild symptoms, such as discomfort in the throat, could indicate the existence of severe epiglottitis

Animal Models of Middle Ear Cholesteatoma

Middle ear acquired cholesteatoma is a pathological condition associated with otitis media, which may be associated with temporal bone resorption, otorrhea and hearing loss, and occasionally various other complications. Cholesteatoma is characterized by the enhanced proliferation of epithelial cells with aberrant morphologic characteristics. Unfortunately, our understanding of the mechanism underlying its pathogenesis is limited. To investigate its pathogenesis, different animal models have been used. This paper provides a brief overview of the current status of research in the field of pathogenesis of middle ear acquired cholesteatoma, four types of animal models previously reported on, up-to-date cholesteatoma research using these animal models, our current studies of the local hybrid ear model, and the future prospect of new animal models of middle ear cholesteatoma

Right-Handed Sneutrino as Cold Dark Matter

We consider supersymmetric models with right-handed neutrinos where neutrino masses are purely Dirac-type. In this model, right-handed sneutrino can be the lightest supersymmetric particle and can be a viable candidate of cold dark matter of the universe. Right-handed sneutrinos are never thermalized in the early universe because of weakness of Yukawa interaction, but are effectively produced by decays of various superparticles. We show that the present mass density of right-handed sneutrino can be consistent with the observed dark matter density.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Immunohistochemical Analysis of Histone H3 Modifications in Germ Cells during Mouse Spermatogenesis

Histone modification has been implicated in the regulation of mammalian spermatogenesis. However, the association of differently modified histone H3 with a specific stage of germ cells during spermatogenesis is not fully understood. In this study, we examined the localization of variously modified histone H3 in paraffin-embedded sections of adult mouse testis immunohistochemically, focusing on acetylation at lysine 9 (H3K9ac), lysine 18 (H3K18ac), and lysine 23 (H3K23ac); tri-methylation at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and lysine 27 (H3K27me3); and phosphorylation at serine 10 (H3S10phos). As a result, we found that there was a significant fluctuation in the modifications; in spermatogonia, the stainings for H3K9ac, H3K18ac, and H3K23ac were strong while that for H3K4me3 was weak. In spermatocytes, the stainings for H3K9ac, H3K18ac, H3K23ac, and H3K4me3 were reduced in the preleptotene to pachytene stage, but in diplotene stage the stainings for H3K18ac, H3K23ac, and H3K4me3 seemed to become intense again. The staining for H3K27me3 was nearly constant throughout these stages. In the ensuing spermiogenesis, a dramatic acetylation and methylation of histone H3 was found in the early elongated spermatids and then almost all signals disappeared in the late elongated spermatids, in parallel with the replacement from histones to protamines. In addition, we confirmed that the staining of histone H3S10phos was exclusively associated with mitotic and meiotic cell division. Based upon the above results, we indicated that the modification pattern of histone H3 is subject to dynamic change and specific to a certain stage of germ cell differentiation during mouse spermatogenesis

Gene Suppression of Mouse Testis In Vivo Using Small Interfering RNA Derived from Plasmid Vectors

We evaluated whether inhibiting gene expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) can be used for an in vivo model using a germ cell-specific gene (Tex101) as a model target in mouse testis. We generated plasmid-based expression vectors of siRNA targeting the Tex101 gene and transfected them into postnatal day 10 mouse testes by in vivo electroporation. After optimizing the electroporation conditions using a vector transfected into the mouse testis, a combination of high- and low-voltage pulses showed excellent transfection efficiency for the vectors with minimal tissue damage, but gene suppression was transient. Gene suppression by in vivo electroporation may be helpful as an alternative approach when designing experiments to unravel the basic role of testicular molecules

Nuclear Expression of Pygo2 Correlates with Poorly Differentiated State Involving c-Myc, PCNA and Bcl9 in Myanmar Hepatocellular Carcinoma

In Myanmar, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is commonly seen in young adult and associated with poor prognosis, while the molecular mechanisms that characterize HCC in Myanmar are unknown. As co-activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and c-Myc (Myc) are reported to associate with malignancy of HCC, we immunohistochemically investigated the expression of Pygo2 and Bcl9, the co-activators of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling, Myc and PCNA in 60 cases of Myanmar HCC. Pygo2 expression was confirmed by in situ hybridization. The signal intensity was measured by image analyzer and then statistically analyzed. As a result, the expression of Pygo2 was significantly higher in HCC compared to normal liver tissue and the nuclear signal was the most intense in poorly differentiated HCC. Cytoplasmic Bcl9 was expressed in the normal liver tissue but decreased in HCC with the progression of histopathological grade. Myc was significantly higher in poorly differentiated HCC, whereas PCNA labeling index increased with the progression of histopathological grade. Nuclear Pygo2 showed strong correlation with nuclear Myc (P < 0.01) and PCNA (P < 0.001), and inversely correlated with cytoplasmic Bcl9 (P < 0.01). Our results suggested Wnt/β-catenin and Myc signaling is commonly activated in Myanmar HCC and that the correlative upregulation of nuclear Pygo2 and Myc characterizes the malignant features of HCC in Myanmar