Publications by authors named "Michiru Nakamura"

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) consist of chondroitin sulfate (CS) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and core protein and regulate the migration, axonal outgrowth, and synaptogenesis in mammalian brains. In the present study, we investigated the localization of CSPGs, the effects of sensory deprivation on the density of perineuronal nets (PNNs), and the effects of chondroitinase ABC (Chase) on the formation of barrel structures in the posterior medial barrel subfield (PMBSF). In developing mouse and rat brains, the immunoreactivity of chondroitin-6-sulfate containing proteoglycan (CS-6-PG), phosphacan, and neurocan was stronger at barrel septa as compared with barrel hollows and surrounding cortex, while the labeling of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) was observed at barrel hollows.

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We ultrasonographically measured renal length in the major axis in children. Here we discuss the differences in measured lengths in the supine and prone positions. In study 1, which included 214 children, more than 60 percent of the kidneys measured longer in the supine than in the prone position.

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Graduates from Jichi Medical School are obligated to work at rural clinics or hospitals, where most of them are the only medical doctor in the house. To understand how these graduates actually use laboratory examinations, what examinations they found most important in their practice, and when they were confident of their laboratory techniques, we designed a questionnaire to address these questions. Many respondents reported that their institutions had electrocardiographs, abdominal and/or cardiac ultrasonographs, urinalysis test paper, and portable blood glucose meters, and more than half of them reported having used these instruments without assistance in emergency situations.

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We used texture analysis with the co-occurrence matrix method to analyze ultrasonograms from normal and diseased livers, and X-ray CT images obtained from normal cases and cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. Ten cases of normal, fatty, and cirrhotic livers; 10 cases of normal lungs; and 10 cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, all confirmed by clinical findings, laboratory data, surgery, or biopsy, were the subjects of this study. We compared the results of texture analysis in normal and diseased livers under the same conditions of gain, focus, magnification rate, probe frequency, and depth of the region of interest.

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A 13-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital because of cardiomegaly found incidentally at regular medical checkup at her school. Although dilated cardiomyopathy was suspected, the girl showed no symptoms. chest x-ray film showed cardiomegaly (cardiothoracic ratio, 67%), and echocardiogram demonstrated a dilatation of the left ventricle without thinning of the wall.

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