Pneumoconiosis with a Sarcoid-Like Reaction Other than Beryllium Exposure: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) is a granulomatous disease that resembles sarcoidosis but is caused by beryllium. Clinical manifestations similar to those observed in CBD have occasionally been reported in exposure to dusts of other metals. However, reports describing the clinical, radiographic, and pathological findings in conditions other than beryllium-induced granulomatous lung diseases, and detailed information on mineralogical analyses of metal dusts, are limited.

Transbronchial Invasion and Proliferation of Leptospira interrogans in Lung without Inflammatory Cell Infiltration in a Hamster Model.

Leptospirosis caused by pathogenic is one of the most common zoonoses in the world. It is believed that humans become infected with it mainly through their skin and mucous membranes by contact with water or soil that is contaminated with urine excreted from infected animals. Recently, outbreaks have frequently occurred in the tropics, especially after flooding, but how leptospires cause mass infection remains poorly understood.

Molecular and phenotypic characterization of Leptospira johnsonii sp. nov., Leptospira ellinghausenii sp. nov. and Leptospira ryugenii sp. nov. isolated from soil and water in Japan.

In a previous study, 50 of 132 soil samples collected throughout Japan were found to be Leptospira-positive. In the present study, three strains identified in the collected specimens, three, E8, E18 and YH101, were found to be divergent from previously described Leptospira species according to 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis. These three strains have a helical shape similar to that of typical Leptospira and were not re-isolated from experimental mice inoculated with the cultured strains.

Decreased ciliary beat responsiveness to acetylcholine in the nasal polyp epithelium.

Objective: We investigated the difference in ciliary beat responsiveness to acetylcholine in ex vivo and the difference in the expressions of associated molecules (M1/M3 muscarinic receptors, pannexin-1 and P2X7 purinergic receptor) between the nasal polyp and turbinate mucosa.

Study Design: Laboratorial study.

Participants: Nasal polyp and inferior turbinate were collected from patients with hypertrophic rhinitis and/or nasal polyp during endoscopic sinonasal surgery.

Hard Metal Lung Disease with Favorable Response to Corticosteroid Treatment: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Hard metal lung disease (HMLD) is a pneumoconiosis caused by occupational exposure to hard metals such as tungsten carbide and cobalt, but the treatment strategies for HMLD have not been well established. A 68-year-old Japanese man with occupational history as a grinder of hard metals for 18 years referred to our hospital because of dry cough and dyspnea. A chest computed tomography (CT) on admission revealed centrilobular micronodules, ground-glass opacities, and reticular opacities in the peripheral zone of both lungs.

Acetylcholine-induced Ciliary Beat of the Human Nasal Mucosa Is Regulated by the Pannexin-1 Channel and Purinergic P2X Receptor.

Unlabelled: Background Airway mucociliary transport is an important function for the clearance of inhaled foreign particulates in the respiratory tract. The present study aimed at investigating the regulatory mechanism of acetylcholine (Ach)-induced ciliary beat of the human nasal mucosa in ex vivo. Methods The inferior turbinate mucosa was collected from patients with chronic hypertrophic rhinitis during endoscopic surgery.

Dental Technicians' Pneumoconiosis.

A 40-year-old female dental technician visited our hospital for the investigation of a chest X-ray abnormality. Chest computed tomography demonstrated centrilobular nodules and lung volume reduction, and her serum KL-6 level was elevated. A histological analysis of the specimens obtained on a surgical lung biopsy showed peribronchiolar fibrosis with pigmented macrophages and cholesterol clefts.

Intratracheal administration of fullerene nanoparticles activates splenic CD11b+ cells.

Fullerene nanoparticles ("Fullerenes"), which are now widely used materials in daily life, have been demonstrated to induce elevated pulmonary inflammation in several animal models; however, the effects of fullerenes on the immune system are not fully understood. In the present study, mice received fullerenes intratracheally and were sacrificed at days 1, 6 and 42. Mice that received fullerenes exhibited increased proliferation of splenocytes and increased splenic production of IL-2 and TNF-α.

Morphological study of fragmented DNA on touched objects.

In recent years, forensic scientists showed that an individual's genetic profile can be retrieved from touched objects. Degraded DNA is believed to originate from epidermal cells and to be responsible for this phenomenon, yet the mechanism has not been confirmed. In the present study, we carried out a morphological and immunohistochemical investigation of nuclear DNA in differentiating keratinocytes in the skin and also a genetic analysis of DNA on swabs of human skin.

Finite-difference time-domain simulation of two-dimensional photonic crystal surface-emitting laser.

Using the three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, we have investigated in detail the optical properties of a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PC) surface-emitting laser having a square-lattice structure. In this study we perform the 3D-FDTD calculation for the structure of an actual fabricated device. The device is based on bandedge resonance, and four band edges are present at the corresponding band edge point.

[Treatment of tracheobronchial malignant tumors using a new high power diode contact laser (GaAlAs) system].

We treated ten patients with tracheobronchial malignant tumors using a new high power diode contact laser (GaAlAs) system (DIOMED 25, OLYMPUS) with a flexible bronchofiberscope (OLYMPUS BF IT200 or BF IT240). The total energy of the high power diode laser was 811 J, with a range of 64-3,960 J. With this method 85.