Cellular building unit integrated with microstrand-shaped bacterial cellulose.

In bottom-up tissue engineering, a method to integrate a pathway of nutrition and oxygen into the resulting macroscopic tissue has been highly desired, but yet to be established. This paper presents a cellular building unit made from microstrand-shaped bacterial cellulose (BC microstrand) covered with mammalian cells. The BC microstrands are fabricated by encapsulating Acetobacter xylinum with a calcium alginate hydrogel microtube using a double co-axial microfluidic device.

Purification and characterization of termite endogenous beta-1,4-endoglucanases produced in Aspergillus oryzae.

Although termites are known to have a highly efficient lignocellulose-digesting system, mass production of native endogenous cellulases of termites has failed in Escherchia coli, and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and it has not been accomplished. Here we report the successful production, purification, and characterization of two termite endogenous beta-1,4-endoglucanases, RsEG and NtEG, from the salivary gland of Reticulitermes speratus and the midgut of Nasutitermes takasagoensis respectively, using Aspergillus oryzae as host. Thin-layer chromatography analysis showed that both enzymes hydrolyzed the beta-1,4-cellulosic linkage of cellodextrin into cellobiose and glucose.

[Influence of general anesthesia in pregnant patients for gynecologic surgery].

Background: Surgery during pregnancy is suspected to have various harmful influences to pregnant patients and fetuses. Although laparoscopic surgery has been recently reported to have some advantages over open surgery in this condition, it often requires general anesthesia.

Methods: The influence of general anesthesia was retrospectively investigated in 12 patients having undergone gynecologic surgery during pregnancy in comparison with 18 with surgery under lumbar and epidural anesthesia.

[Effects of rikkunshito on the postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after laparoscopic gynecological surgery].

Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of unignorable complications after general anesthesia. The aim of this study was to examine prophylactic effects of TSUMURA rikkunshito (TJ-43), a herbal medicine consisting of eight herbs, on PONV after laparoscopic surgery.

Methods: One hundred and forty-two female patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery (ASA-PS1-2) were randomly allocated to one of two groups receiving rikkunshito (n = 91) and control (n = 51).