An intrinsically semi-permeable PDMS nanosheet encapsulating adipose tissue-derived stem cells for enhanced angiogenesis.

Cell encapsulation devices are expected to be promising tools that can control the release of therapeutic proteins secreted from transplanted cells. The protein permeability of the device membrane is important because it allows the isolation of transplanted cells while enabling the effectiveness of the device. In this study, we investigated free-standing polymeric ultra-thin films (nanosheets) as an intrinsically semi-permeable membrane made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

One-colour control of activation, excitation and deactivation of a fluorescent diarylethene derivative in super-resolution microscopy.

We demonstrated one-colour control of activation, excitation and deactivation of a fluorescent diarylethene derivative by using a 532 nm CW laser at a weak output power. This one-colour control method was applied to single-molecule tracking in polymer films over a total duration of a few hours at room temperature and PALM for the nanostructures of polymer systems.

Optimization of X-ray microplanar beam radiation therapy for deep-seated tumors by a simulation study.

A Monte Carlo simulation was applied to study the energy dependence on the transverse dose distribution of microplanar beam radiation therapy (MRT) for deep-seated tumors. The distribution was found to be the peak (in-beam) dose and the decay from the edge of the beam down to the valley. The area below the same valley dose level (valley region) was decreased with the increase in the energy of X-rays at the same beam separation.

Hybrid ameloblastoma and adenomatoid odontogenic tumor: report of a case and review of hybrid variations in the literature.

Hybrid odontogenic tumors including 2 or more different histologic types have been documented, but their occurrences are not very common. We present a case of hybrid odontogenic tumor composed of ameloblastoma and adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (AOT) arising in the mandibular molar region of a 31-year-old Japanese woman who had a history of familial adenomatous polyposis. The tumor, measuring 10 mm in diameter, was surgically removed from the alveolar bone.

Tetraspanin gene expression levels as potential biomarkers for malignancy of gingival squamous cell carcinoma.

Accurate assessment of malignancy in oral squamous cell carcinoma is essential to optimize treatment planning. To detect a biomarker related to malignant propensity in gingival squamous cell carcinoma (GSCC), quantitative gene expression analysis of tetraspanin family genes was conducted. In 73 cases of GSCC, total RNA was extracted from carcinoma tissues, and gene expression was analyzed by quantitative real time-PCR.

The 2G allele of promoter region of matrix metalloproteinase-1 as an essential pre-condition for the early onset of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) is known to be involved in the initial and progressive stages of cancer development, and in the aggressive phenotypes of cancer. This study examines the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in promoter regions of MMP-1 and MMP-3 with susceptibility to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Methods: We compared 170 Japanese OSCC cases and 164 healthy controls for genotypes of MMP-1 and MMP-3.

Model-based reinforcement learning for partially observable games with sampling-based state estimation.

Games constitute a challenging domain of reinforcement learning (RL) for acquiring strategies because many of them include multiple players and many unobservable variables in a large state space. The difficulty of solving such realistic multiagent problems with partial observability arises mainly from the fact that the computational cost for the estimation and prediction in the whole state space, including unobservable variables, is too heavy. To overcome this intractability and enable an agent to learn in an unknown environment, an effective approximation method is required with explicit learning of the environmental model.

Influence of radial clearance and rotor motion to hemolysis in a journal bearing of a centrifugal blood pump.

Hemolysis due to narrow clearance of noncontact bearings is a critical problem for rotary blood pumps. We developed a centrifugal blood pump with a magnetic and hydrodynamic hybrid bearing, and found that the hemolysis in the narrow clearance depends not only on the clearance size, but also on the rotor stability. In this study, we quantified the relation between the hemolysis, radial clearance (c), and rotor stability through the measurement of the rotor motion and hemolysis.

Measurement of the rotor motion and corresponding hemolysis of a centrifugal blood pump with a magnetic and hydrodynamic hybrid bearing.

This study proposed a centrifugal blood pump with a novel magnetic and hydrodynamic hybrid passive bearing, which consisted of a plain journal bearing for radial stability and a permanent magnetic bearing for axial and tilting stability. We measured the radial motion of the bearing and performed hemolysis tests for the different radial clearance sizes. In the results, it appeared that the radial motion had two modes: the stable center mode, in which the radius of the radial motion rapidly converged to less than 20 microm; and the unstable circle mode, in which the rotor suspension linearly increased with the rotation speed.

Risk evaluation of coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease by the Japan Atherosclerosis Society Guidelines 2002 using the cohort of the Holicos-PAT study.

Our purpose in this study was to evaluate the new JAS guidelines as a risk assessment tool in Japanese patients with hypercholesterolemia, using the cohort of the Holicos-PAT study. The Holicos-PAT study was designed as a prospective observational study. 2039 patients were followed with or without pravastatin for 5 years.

Simultaneous early adenocarcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the stomach associated with Helicobacter pylori infection.

The simultaneous association of gastric carcinoma with gastric lymphoma is a rare event. Recent studies have suggested that not only gastric cancer but also primary gastric lymphomas, especially those of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type, are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. We report on a 51-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of abnormal shadows revealed by an upper gastrointestinal radiography series.

Identification of potential biomarkers of lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma by cDNA microarray analysis.

We surveyed the expression of 557 cancer-related genes in 15 cases of well-differentiated OSCC by cDNA microarray analysis. To identify potential biomarkers for lymph node metastasis, all microarray data were compared by the Mann-Whitney test and the significance analysis of microarrays between OSCCs with and those without lymph node metastasis. The tissues of OSCCs with lymph node metastasis exhibited increased expression levels of MMP-1, MMP-3, uPA, integrin-alpha3, paxillin, tenascin C and IL-6 transcripts.