ツインブロック装置装着後の脳活動

ツインブロック装置(TBA)の装着による不快感および下顎の前方移動量の増加が前頭葉前部皮質の活動を上昇させるという仮説を立て、これらを検証した。対象は、II級1類不正咬合の顔貌を有する男性10名(II級群)と正常咬合を有する男性10名(I級群)とした。TBAを装着しない場合と装着して下顎を前方へ0、2、4、6、8mm移動させた場合において、ガム咀嚼を20秒間課し、この間の前頭葉前部皮質における酸化ヘモグロビンレベルを光トポグラフィ装置によって計測した。さらに、視覚的評価スケール(VAS)によって快・不快感を定量化した。その結果、TBAの装着によって酸化ヘモグロビンレベルが両群ともに上昇すること、群間の有意差はないこと、下顎を前方移動させても変化はないことが明らかになった。また、TBAを装着して前方移動させると、VASによって示される不快感は増した

Molecular cloning of a novel putative G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR21) which is expressed predominantly in mouse central nervous system

AbstractA novel cDNA clone encoding a putative G protein-coupled receptor (named GPCR21) was isolated from a mouse brain cDNA library along with its homologue, GPCR01 (the mouse counterpart of previously reported rat receptor R334 [(1991) FEBS Lett. 292, 243-248]) by the polymerase chain reaction using degenerate oligonucleotide primers. Northern blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses showed predominant expression of these two receptors in the central nervous system. In situ hybridization analysis revealed their prominent expression in the limbic system and further demonstrated the differential distribution of their mRNAs in mouse brain. Although the ligands for these receptors are yet to be identified, the significant sequence homology between these receptors suggests that they constitute a new receptor subfamily and they possibly represent different receptor subtypes for an unknown neurotransmitter

Impacts of elevated atmospheric CO₂ on nutrient content of important food crops.

One of the many ways that climate change may affect human health is by altering the nutrient content of food crops. However, previous attempts to study the effects of increased atmospheric CO2 on crop nutrition have been limited by small sample sizes and/or artificial growing conditions. Here we present data from a meta-analysis of the nutritional contents of the edible portions of 41 cultivars of six major crop species grown using free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) technology to expose crops to ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations in otherwise normal field cultivation conditions. This data, collected across three continents, represents over ten times more data on the nutrient content of crops grown in FACE experiments than was previously available. We expect it to be deeply useful to future studies, such as efforts to understand the impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 on crop macro- and micronutrient concentrations, or attempts to alleviate harmful effects of these changes for the billions of people who depend on these crops for essential nutrients

Molecular phylogeny of the rotifers with two Indonesian Brachionus lineages

The rotifer Brachionus plicatilis is an ecologically and commercially important species, and has been studied in various fields such as population dynamics, ecotoxicology and aging. However, recent studies have revealed that the B. plicatilis lineages involve an unknown number of cryptic species, and the group has been regarded as the Brachionus complex. One cause of this complicated taxonomy is the lack of surveys in the tropical zone, which is characterized by enormous species-richness. Accordingly, in this study we collected two Brachionus rotifers from the Sumatra and Sulawesi Islands, Indonesia, and determined their partial nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. Subsequently, we constructed molecular phylogenetic trees with fourteen species/lineages from four genera including the two Indonesian rotifers. The two Indonesian Brachionus rotifers were respectively found to be phylogenetically close to B. ibericus and B. rotundiformis. On the other hand, Japanese B. plicatilis was suggested to be phylogenetically closer to B. Manjavacas, which is proposed to be a new species, than to Spanish B. plicatilis. These results imply that the current taxonomy of the Brachionus is problematic, and a major revision is necessary to establish a reliable taxonomy of this group

Four-Dimensional Homogeneous Systolic Pyramid Automata

Cellular automaton is famous as a kind of the parallel automaton. Cellular automata were investigated not only in the viewpoint of formal language theory, but also in the viewpoint of pattern recognition. Cellular automata can be classified into some types. A systolic pyramid automata is also one parallel model of various cellular automata. A homogeneous systolic pyramid automaton with four-dimensional layers (4-HSPA) is a pyramid stack of four-dimensional arrays of cells in which the bottom four-dimensional layer (level 0) has size an (a≥1), the next lowest 4(a-1), and so forth, the (a-1)st fourdimensional layer (level (a-1)) consisting of a single cell, called the root. Each cell means an identical finite-state machine. The input is accepted if and only if the root cell ever enters an accepting state. A 4-HSPA is said to be a real-time 4-HSPA if for every four-dimensional tape of size 4a (a≥1), it accepts the fourdimensional tape in time a-1. Moreover, a 1- way fourdimensional cellular automaton (1-4CA) can be considered as a natural extension of the 1-way two-dimensional cellular automaton to four-dimension. The initial configuration is accepted if the last special cell reaches a final state. A 1-4CA is said to be a real- time 1-4CA if when started with fourdimensional array of cells in nonquiescent state, the special cell reaches a final state. In this paper, we proposed a homogeneous systolic automaton with four-dimensional layers (4-HSPA), and investigated some properties of real-time 4-HSPA. Specifically, we first investigated the relationship between the accepting powers of real-time 4-HSPA’s and real-time 1-4CA’s. We next showed the recognizability of four-dimensional connected tapes by real-time 4-HSPA’s

Decreasing the Pressure Gradient of the Left Ventricular Outflow Tract by Single-lead VDD Pacing in a Patient with Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy

A 59-year-old woman with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy of 8 years duration, who had been taking ﾎｲ-blocker, was admitted to our hospital for exertional dyspnea and previous syncope. Cardiac catheterization showed a prominent left-ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) pressure gradient, and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) was diagnosed. To reduce LVOT obstruction, we implanted a single-lead VDD-mode pacemaker. Cardiac catheterization after the implantation revealed a remarkable decrease in the LVOT pressure gradient with short atrioventricular delay, 80 msec, and her symptoms disappeared. A singlelead VDD pacemaker is also a useful treatment for an HOCM patient due to the relative ease with which it can be implanted

Combined Laparoscopic and CT Monitoring of the Ice-Ball Margin during Cryoablation for Renal Cell Carcinoma Associated with von Hippel-Lindau Disease: First Case

We report a 47-year-old Japanese female with 10 previous treatments for multiple bilateral renal cell carcinoma (RCC) associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease. The 14-mm right lower pole renal tumor was in contact with the right ureter. Laparoscopic cryoablation was performed to protect the ureter wrapped with gauze. Computed tomography (CT) monitoring was used to confirm the precise ≥ 6 mm ice-ball margin. There was no local progression at 6-months post-surgery. The serum creatinine has been stable. This is apparently the first report of combined laparoscopic and CT monitoring of an ice-ball formation and its margin during cryoablation for RCC