Relationship between palatal volume and tongue pressure

松本歯科大学大学院歯学独立研究科博士（歯学）学位申請論

スマートフォンの普及による若者の電車内行動の変化 ―OOH への影響を考察する―

When considering the lifestyle of young people in recent years, a smartphone is an indispensable tool and it can be said to have great influences on their lives. On the other hand, advertising, such as television and internet are abundant in the streets. Especially, OOH（Out Of Home media） such as transportation advertising and outdoor advertising has been the focus of attention. This is because opportunities to see outdoor media have been increasing with an increase of young people’s going-out time. Then what do young people do during going out? On weekdays, young people as students are spending a lot of school hours and the way to the school in the train. In such a situation, it will be said that a hanging poster in a train is an important advertising media. However, we can see young people addicted to a smartphone in a train. They don’t seem to be seeing a hanging poster. It is guessed that using a smartphone has a possibility to give a certain influence on advertising. Therefore, in this thesis, we’ll clarify the following two points. What kind of influence has the spread of smartphones had on young people’s behavior in a train? What kind of influence has the behavioral changes in a train had on advertising in a train

Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an Evidence-Based Practical Index of Children’s Social Skills and Parenting

Background: The purpose of this paper is to describe the features of the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an evidence-based practical index of children’s social skills and parenting.Methods: The participants in our study, which was conducted as part of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) project, were 370 dyads of children (aged 18, 30, and 42 month) and 81 dyads of 7-year-old children with their caregivers. The participants completed the five minute interaction session and were observed using the IRS.Results: The results indicated that the IRS can measure children’s social skill development and parenting with high validity. Along with the discriminate validity for pervasive development disorder (PDD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), abuse and maltreatment, a high correlation with the SDQ (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire), and high reliability, the IRS is effective in describing features of social skill development.Conclusions: The IRS provides further evidence of the fact that in order to study children’s social skill development, it is important to evaluate various features of the caregiver-child interaction as a predictor of social skills

A patient with severely anterior cross bite during the growth period treated with a myofunctional training device

Although functional jaw orthopedic appliances have been used to treat anterior cross bite during the growth and development period, its functional effect for severely anterior cross bite has not been clarified. Cases treated with a myofunctional training device for deciduous tooth anterior cross bite have been reported, but normally, these devices are not used to improve occlusion of patients with severly anterior cross bite. The patient was an 8-year and 4-month-old boy with Skeletal 3 anterior cross bite, Terminal plane Mesial step type with -3 mm over jet and +6 mm over bite, and ANB of -3.0° and U1 to SN of 86°. We proposed the conventional treatment method, but active treatment was rejected due to various background factors, and consent could not be obtained. Thus, we proposed the use of a myofunctional training device and consent was obtained. The attached device guided the abnormal pressure of various muscles of the oral cavity in an appropriate direction and promoted forward development of the upper jaw. ANB improved to +1.0°, curvature of Spee was flattened, and labial inclination of the upper teeth and inferior backward growth of the mandible were observed, which improved coverage of the upper tooth region that the patient most strongly desired

The relationship between the development of social competence and sleep in infants: a longitudinal study

BackgroundMany reports argue that sleep is important for children’s health, learning, and academic performance. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the association between sleep and the development of social competence in infants.MethodsThis study was conducted as part of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) project. Caregivers responded to the Japan Children’s Study Sleep Questionnaire when children were 18 months old. The interactions of caregivers and children were observed when children were 18, 30, and 42 months old, and rated with the Interaction Rating Scale, which is a measure of social competence.ResultsNocturnal sleep duration of more than 10 h and an earlier bed time than 22:00 were significantly correlated with two trajectory groups (low point and high point transition groups) of children’s social competence at 18, 30, and 42 months. Further, total sleep duration of more than 12.25 h and an earlier bed time than 22:00 were significantly correlated with the trajectory of children’s social competence at 18, 30, and 42 months.ConclusionsSleep duration and sleep onset time are important factors in children’s development of social competence

Pancreatic RECK inactivation promotes cancer formation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and metastasis

膵癌悪性化の分子機構解明 --RECK発現の低下が膵癌の浸潤・転移を引き起こす--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-09-19.RECK is downregulated in various human cancers; however, how RECK inactivation affects carcinogenesis remains unclear. We addressed this issue in a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) mouse model and found that pancreatic Reck deletion dramatically augmented the spontaneous development of PDAC with a mesenchymal phenotype, which was accompanied by increased liver metastases and decreased survival. Lineage tracing revealed that pancreatic Reck deletion induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in PDAC cells, giving rise to inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblast–like cells in mice. Splenic transplantation of Reck-null PDAC cells resulted in numerous liver metastases with a mesenchymal phenotype, whereas reexpression of RECK markedly reduced metastases and changed the PDAC tumor phenotype into an epithelial one. Consistently, low RECK expression correlated with low E-cadherin expression, poor differentiation, metastasis, and poor prognosis in human PDAC. RECK reexpression in the PDAC cells was found to downregulate MMP2 and MMP3, with a concomitant increase in E-cadherin and decrease in EMT-promoting transcription factors. An MMP inhibitor recapitulated the effects of RECK on the expression of E-cadherin and EMT-promoting transcription factors and invasive activity. These results establish the authenticity of RECK as a pancreatic tumor suppressor, provide insights into its underlying mechanisms, and support the idea that RECK could be an important therapeutic effector against human PDAC

Interaction between lung cancer cells and astrocytes via specific inflammatory cytokines in the microenvironment of brain metastasis

The incidence of brain metastasis is increasing, however, little is known about molecular mechanism responsible for lung cancer-derived brain metastasis and their development in the brain. In the present study, brain pathology was examined in an experimental model system of brain metastasis as well as in human brain with lung cancer metastasis. In an experimental model, after 3–6 weeks of intracardiac inoculation of human lung cancer-derived (HARA-B) cells in nude mice, wide range of brain metastases were observed. The brain sections showed significant increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes around metastatic lesions. To elucidate the role of astrocytes in lung cancer proliferation, the interaction between primary cultured mouse astrocytes and HARA-B cells was analyzed in vitro. Co-cultures and insert-cultures demonstrated that astrocytes were activated by tumor cell-oriented factors; macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Activated astrocytes produced interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 β (IL-1β), which in turn promoted tumor cell proliferation. Semi-quantitative immunocytochemistry showed that increased expression of receptors for IL-6 and its subunits gp130 on HARA-B cells. Receptors for TNF-α and IL-1β were also detected on HARA-B cells but down-regulated after co-culture with astrocytes. Insert-culture with astrocytes also stimulated the proliferation of other lung cancer-derived cell lines (PC-9, QG56, and EBC-1). These results suggest that tumor cells and astrocytes stimulate each other and these mutual relationships may be important to understand how lung cancer cells metastasize and develop in the brain

Hydrogen in Drinking Water Reduces Dopaminergic Neuronal Loss in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease

It has been shown that molecular hydrogen (H2) acts as a therapeutic antioxidant and suppresses brain injury by buffering the effects of oxidative stress. Chronic oxidative stress causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we show that drinking H2-containing water significantly reduced the loss of dopaminergic neurons in PD model mice using both acute and chronic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The concentration-dependency of H2 showed that H2 as low as 0.08 ppm had almost the same effect as saturated H2 water (1.5 ppm). MPTP-induced accumulation of cellular 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), a marker of DNA damage, and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), a marker of lipid peroxidation were significantly decreased in the nigro-striatal dopaminergic pathway in mice drinking H2-containing water, whereas production of superoxide (O2•−) detected by intravascular injection of dihydroethidium (DHE) was not reduced significantly. Our results indicated that low concentration of H2 in drinking water can reduce oxidative stress in the brain. Thus, drinking H2-containing water may be useful in daily life to prevent or minimize the risk of life style-related oxidative stress and neurodegeneration