Expression of tenocyte lineage-related factors in regenerated tissue at sites of tendon defect.

Background: The healing mechanism of ruptured or injured tendons is poorly understood. To date, some lineage-specific factors, such as scleraxis and tenomodulin, have been reported as markers of tenocyte differentiation. Because few studies have focused on tenocyte lineage-related factors with respect to the repaired tissue of healing tendons, the aim of this study was to investigate their expression during the tendon healing process.

Optimal doses of sevoflurane and propofol in rabbits.

Background: Although sevoflurane and propofol are commonly used anesthetics in rabbits, optimal doses of remain unclear. We thus assessed the optimal hypnotic doses of sevoflurane and propofol, and evaluated the influence of dexmedetomidine on sevoflurane and propofol requirements.

Methods: Twenty-eight Japanese white rabbits were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n=7 each).

The relation of maternal blood arsenic to anemia during pregnancy.

To clarify the relationship of prenatal arsenic exposure to hemoglobin concentrations and anemia during pregnancy, a longitudinal study was conducted of 364 participants during early pregnancy from October 2006 to March 2011 in Tehran, Iran. Maternal whole blood (taken between 8-12 and 20-24 weeks of gestation, and at delivery) and umbilical cord blood samples were collected for arsenic measurement. The mean concentration of maternal blood arsenic in the first trimester of pregnancy was significantly lower in anemic women compared with non-anemic participants (mean ± SD: 12.

The effects of Patent Blue dye on peripheral and cerebral oxyhaemoglobin saturations.

We measured the effect of Patent Blue dye on oxyhaemoglobin saturations after injection into breast tissue: 40 women had anaesthesia for breast surgery maintained with sevoflurane or propofol (20 randomly allocated to each). Saturations were recorded with a digital pulse oximeter, in arterial blood samples and with a cerebral tissue oximeter before dye injection and 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, 105 and 120 min afterwards. Patent Blue did not decrease arterial blood oxyhaemoglobin saturation, but it did reduce mean (SD) digital and cerebral oxyhaemoglobin saturations by 1.

Ocular irritation from product of pesticide degradation among workers in a seed warehouse.

Four workers at a seed supply warehouse in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, complained of ocular irritation on the job. Pesticide-coated seeds were stored in the warehouse but no significant amount of pesticide was detected in the air inside the warehouse. To identify the cause of the ocular irritation and to determine an appropriate solution to the problem, the authors used thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air of the two warehouses at the site-warehouse A, where the four workers experienced ocular irritation, and warehouse B, where no workers experienced ocular irritation.

Transcription factor Mohawk controls tenogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro and in vivo.

Mohawk homeobox (MKX) has been demonstrated as a tendon/ligament specific transcription factor. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of MKX in ligament/tenogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs). Human BMMSCs were treated with 50 ng/ml BMP-12 or transduced with MKX or scleraxis (SCX) adenoviral vector.

[Femoral nerve block for total knee arthroplasty].

Background: Femoral nerve block and sciatic nerve block are used to provide intraoperative and postoperative analgesia for total knee arthroplasty. Sciatic nerve block is contraindicated in our hospital, because orthopedists want to assess peroneal nerve function after the surgery. We retrospectively assessed postoperative analgesic effect and complications of the continuous femoral nerve block for total knee arthroplasty.

Insulin preconditioning elevates p-Akt and cardiac contractility after reperfusion in the isolated ischemic rat heart.

Insulin induces cardioprotection partly via an antiapoptotic effect. However, the optimal timing of insulin administration for the best quality cardioprotection remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that insulin administered prior to ischemia provides better cardioprotection than insulin administration after ischemia.

Direct effects of Rho-kinase inhibitor on pial microvessels in rabbits.

Purpose: Rho-kinase inhibitor is widely used for prevention of cerebral vascular spasm. However, the cerebral pial vascular action of Rho-kinase inhibitor has not been investigated. We therefore evaluated the direct effects of Y-27632, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, on pial microvessels.

Evidence that birth weight is decreased by maternal lead levels below 5μg/dl in male newborns.

To assess the association between birth weight and maternal blood lead (BPb) levels, 386 pregnant women and their newborn offspring were surveyed. Mean±SD (range) maternal BPb concentrations were 0.98±0.

Hes1 promotes blast crisis in chronic myelogenous leukemia through MMP-9 upregulation in leukemic cells.

High levels of HES1 expression are frequently found in BCR-ABL(+) chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis (CML-BC). In mouse bone marrow transplantation (BMT) models, co-expression of BCR-ABL and Hes1 induces CML-BC-like disease; however, the underlying mechanism remained elusive. Here, based on gene expression analysis, we show that MMP-9 is upregulated by Hes1 in common myeloid progenitors (CMPs).

10 aJ-level sensing of nanosecond pulse below 10 THz by frequency upconversion detection via DAST crystal: more than a 4 K bolometer.

By using frequency upconversion detection of terahertz (THz) waves via 4-dimethylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium tosylate (DAST) crystal with an optimized frequency conversion process, ultrahigh sensitivity has been achieved. Direct comparisons with a 4 K bolometer were implemented. By using a simple positive intrinsic negative (PIN) diode without either electrical amplification or optical amplification, frequency upconversion detection can compete with the commercial 4 K bolometer, while by replacing the PIN diode with an avalanche photo diode (APD), it performs more than three orders better than the 4 K bolometer.

Ultra-compact 8 × 8 strictly-non-blocking Si-wire PILOSS switch.

We report on a path-independent insertion-loss (PILOSS) 8 × 8 matrix switch based on Si-wire waveguides, which has a record-small footprint of 3.5 × 2.4 mm2.

Low level prenatal blood lead adversely affects early childhood mental development.

The effect of prenatal lead exposure on child development has been a topic of public health concern for decades. To estimate prenatal lead exposure effects on early childhood development, maternal blood (n = 364) and umbilical cord blood (n = 224) samples were collected during pregnancy and at delivery. Mental development was assessed using the Harold Ireton Early Child Development Inventory from 174 children.

[Predisposition to latex allergy undetected on preoperative evaluation: a case report].

A 70-year-old man was scheduled to undergo laparoscopic total gastrectomy for stomach cancer. He had no history of atopy, fruit allergies, or frequent exposure to natural rubber. Preoperative latex-specific IgE antibodies were negative.

[General anesthesia for a boy with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome].

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a rare chromosomal abnormality in which there is deletion of the short arm of chromosome no. 4. Features of the condition include severe psychomotor retardation, characteristic facies and various congenital midline fusion anomalies.

[Case of dyspnea due to toilet cleaner containing nitric acid for household use].

A 40-year-old male tried to clean a urinal at his home storing 900 mL of a toilet cleaner containing 9.8% nitric acid to remove calcium deposit, and clean the toilet floor for twenty minutes. Immediately after using the cleaner, he experienced eye irritation.

ERBB4 mutations that disrupt the neuregulin-ErbB4 pathway cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis type 19.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurological disorder characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons and typically results in death within 3-5 years from onset. Familial ALS (FALS) comprises 5%-10% of ALS cases, and the identification of genes associated with FALS is indispensable to elucidating the molecular pathogenesis. We identified a Japanese family affected by late-onset, autosomal-dominant ALS in which mutations in genes known to be associated with FALS were excluded.

A molecular mechanism of optic nerve regeneration in fish: the retinoid signaling pathway.

The fish optic nerve regeneration process takes more than 100 days after axotomy and comprises four stages: neurite sprouting (1-4 days), axonal elongation (5-30 days), synaptic refinement (35-80 days) and functional recovery (100-120 days). We screened genes specifically upregulated in each stage from axotomized fish retina. The mRNAs for heat shock protein 70 and insulin-like growth factor-1 rapidly increased in the retinal ganglion cells soon after axotomy and function as cell-survival factors.

Increase in blood manganese induces gestational hypertension during pregnancy.

Objective: Pregnancy hypertension can lead to many pregnancy complications and increases the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality.

Methods: To investigate the effects of blood manganese (Mn) on the development of pregnancy hypertension, 364 healthy women were examined during early pregnancy until delivery.

Results: At the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, concentrations of Mn in maternal blood were significantly higher in the hypertensive pregnant women than in the normotensive women.

Chondrogenic capacity and alterations in hyaluronan synthesis of cultured human osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

During osteoarthritis there is a disruption and loss of the extracellular matrix of joint cartilage, composed primarily of type II collagen, aggrecan and hyaluronan. In young patients, autologous chondrocyte implantation can be used to repair cartilage defects. However, for more elderly patients with osteoarthritis, such a repair approach is contraindicated because the procedure requires a large expansion of autologous chondrocytes in vitro leading a rapid, perhaps irreversible, loss of the chondrocyte phenotype.

Transcription factor Mohawk and the pathogenesis of human anterior cruciate ligament degradation.

Objective: To investigate the expression and function of Mohawk (MKX) in human adult anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tissue and ligament cells from normal and osteoarthritis (OA)-affected knees.

Methods: Knee joints were obtained at autopsy (within 24-48 hours postmortem) from 13 donors with normal knees (mean ± SD age 36.9 ± 11.