Regarding drain removal timing in head and neck reconstruction, each institution applies its criteria, and a clear consensus has not been established. This pre-post study aims to identify risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) after reconstructive surgical procedure for head and neck cancer, specifically examining the influence of drain removal timing. A cohort of 220 patients undergoing reconstructive surgical procedure was analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in detecting perfusion disturbances during microvascular free tissue transfer.
Methods: Conducted at a single centre from December 2020 to September 2022, this prospective study involved 71 patients mainly undergoing head and neck free flap reconstructions, using the Pocket LDF™ for continuous perfusion monitoring.
Results: Out of the 71 cases, data from 69 cases were analysed after excluding those with significant noise or sensor detachment.
Objective: Wide defects resulting from subtotal or total glossectomy are commonly reconstructed using a bulk flap to maintain oral and speech functions. The flap, including muscle tissue, diminishes with time. This study aimed to compare the surgical outcomes of deep inferior epigastric artery perforator and rectus abdominis musculocutaneous free flap reconstructions after glossectomy with laryngeal preservation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe introduce a mathematical model, based on networks, for the elasticity and plasticity of materials. We define the tension tensor for a periodic graph in a Euclidean space, and we show that the tension tensor expresses elasticity under deformation. Plasticity is induced by local moves on a graph.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcquired choanal atresia is a rare complication of pharyngeal surgical interventions. Here, we report the case of a 72-year-old woman who was treated in our institution for acquired choanal atresia after failed previous treatments. We have excised the obstructing fibrotic scar tissue and then reconstructed the area using a mucosal local flap and free radial forearm flap transfer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch has previously shown that ultraviolet light C (UV-C) can inactivate unexpected infection. However, this type of potential disinfection is dramatically reduced for the shadow area such as under desk or medical equipment. Because the UV-C reflectance ratio is low on the general wall surfaces.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously developed a transgenic rice that contains seven linked human predominant T-cell epitopes (7Crp) derived from Japanese cedar (JC) pollen allergens Cry j 1 and Cry j 2. Oral administration of 80 g of transgenic rice for 20 weeks suppressed allergen-specific T-cell proliferation in participants with JC pollinosis, but their clinical symptoms did not improve. We examined the clinical efficacy of low-dose (5 g and 20 g) intake of the transgenic rice administered for two successive seasons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A rice-based peptide vaccine containing 7 linked human predominant T-cell epitopes (7Crp) derived from Japanese cedar (JC) pollen allergens, Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, was developed. Here, we examined the efficacy and safety of this transgenic rice in JC pollinosis patients.
Methods: Transgenic rice (5, 20, and 80 g) was administered orally.
The Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) is widely used to predict surgical complications affecting various organs. However, there are few reports about objective evaluation methods for head and neck surgery. In this study, we retrospectively examined the association between POSSUM score and actual surgical complications of head and neck reconstruction surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo assess the exposure of flame retardants (FRs) for school-children, organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers (PFRs) and organobromine flame retardants (BFRs) were determined in the indoor dust samples collected from elementary schools and domestic houses in Japan in 2009 and 2010. PFRs were detected in all the dust samples analyzed and the highest concentration of total PFRs was thousand-fold higher than that of BFRs. Among the PFRs, tris(butoxyethyl)phosphate (TBOEP) showed the highest concentration with a median (med.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn 81-year-old man was referred to our hospital because gastric cancer was detected on screening esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Surgical resection of the tumor was performed. It was 25 × 20 mm in size and swollen lymph nodes were present nearby.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHydroxyl radical (HO) photoformation rate (RHO) was determined in headwater stream samples from nitrogen (N)-saturated forests, (1) to quantify the sources of HO in headwater streams and (2) to evaluate the nitrate NO3(-)-induced enhancement of HO formation in stream water caused by N saturation in forested watersheds. Stream water fulvic acid extracted from the forested watersheds was used to quantify the contribution of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to RHO. The results showed that almost all (97%; 81-109%) RHO sources in our headwater stream samples were quantitatively elucidated; the photolysis of NO3(-) (55%; 34-75%), nitrite [N(III)] (2%; 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study reports carbon isotopic ratios (Δ(14)C and δ(13)C) of dissolved humic and fulvic acids in the Tokachi River system, northern Japan. These acids have a refractory feature and they represent the largest fraction of dissolved organic matter in aquatic environments. The acids were isolated using the XAD extraction method from river water samples collected at three sites (on the upper and lower Tokachi River, and from one of its tributaries) in June 2004 and 2005.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCharacteristics of aquatic fulvic acids (FAs) from 10 clear waters in Japan (around the temperate zone) were revealed by several analytical techniques-high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), elemental analysis, liquid-state (13)C NMR spectroscopy, isotopic analyses (delta(13)C and delta(15)N), and compared with those of International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) standard samples including FAs from brown waters (Suwannee, Pony, and Nordic FAs). Generally clear-water FAs were different from brown-water FAs in chemical properties. Weight-average molecular weights (Mw) of the clear-water FAs were similar to each other, whereas their elemental compositions and carbon species distribution were different.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetic retinopathy is one of the most frequent complications of diabetes and is a leading cause of vision loss in adulthood. To better understand the molecular pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy, we performed comprehensive gene expression analysis of the mouse retina under diabetic conditions with an in-house cDNA microarray system that was designed to be suitable for the small amount of RNA available from a single mouse retina. Diabetes was induced in male C57BL/6 mice by an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin, and the changes in retinal mRNA levels were examined in three pairs of diabetic and age-matched control mice at 1 and 3 months after the injection of streptozotocin.
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