Modeling the effect of direct and indirect contamination of on-farm bulk tank milk with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in milk of bovine origin is suspected of being implicated in Crohn's disease in humans. Milk can be contaminated via direct excretion of MAP in milk or indirectly via fecal contamination of the milk.

Visualization of submitral structure by three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.

Objective: The conventional mid-esophageal observation by three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) sometimes fails to visualize the subvalvular apparatus. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of the transgastric approach by 3DTEE in visualizing the mitral valve complex with the conventional mid-esophageal approach.

Methods: We studied 10 consecutive patients who underwent mitral valve surgery for functional mitral regurgitation.

gender-specific outcome after paclitaxel-eluting stent implantation in japanese patients with coronary artery disease--sub-analysis of the Japan TAXUS Express2 post-marketing survey.

Background:  Although previous randomized and non-randomized studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES), a higher revascularization rate has been reported in women than in men. A sub-analysis of the TAXUS Japan Post-market Surveillance Study (TAXUS-PMS) was done to assess the influence of gender on clinical outcome.

Methods And Results:  A total of 2,132 PES-treated Japanese patients (women, n=551) from this registry were analyzed.

[Recent trends in the clinical characteristics of infective endocarditis: a survey of 54 consecutive cases from 2006 to 2010].

Background: It has been reported that the clinical characteristics of infective endocarditis are changing during the course of the decades. However, most of the available data are obtained in the early 2000s or earlier. We therefore evaluated the more recent clinical spectrum of infective endocarditis.

Hydrolytic activities of crystalline cellulose nanofibers.

Cellulose is commonly believed to be inactive to organic substances; this inertness is an essential requirement for raw materials in industrial products. Here we demonstrate the contradictory but promising properties, which are the hydrolytic activities of crystalline cellulose nanofibers for the ester, monophosphate, and even amide bonds of small organic substrates under extremely mild conditions (neutral pH, moderate temperature, and atmospheric pressure). The hydrolytic activities were significantly extended to decompose the coat proteins of model viruses, followed by a drastic decrease in their infection capabilities to the host cells.

TSC1 controls distribution of actin fibers through its effect on function of Rho family of small GTPases and regulates cell migration and polarity.

The tumor-suppressor genes TSC1 and TSC2 are mutated in tuberous sclerosis, an autosomal dominant multisystem disorder. The gene products of TSC1 and TSC2 form a protein complex that inhibits the signaling of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex1 (mTORC1) pathway. mTORC1 is a crucial molecule in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation and survival.

Comparison of quantitative measurements between two different intravascular ultrasound systems: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Background: Although intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) allows for precise measurements of coronary artery dimension, variability in quantitative measurements among currently available different IVUS systems is unknown. The aim of study was to compare two different IVUS catheters and consoles to verify their accuracy and compatibility.

Methods: (1) In vitro study: IVUS imaging was performed in a concentric cylindrical phantom with 6 sections of known, cross-sectional diameter ranging from 3.

A comparison between 40 MHz intravascular ultrasound iMap imaging system and integrated backscatter intravascular ultrasound.

Background: iMap is a newly developed intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) tissue characterization system based on pattern recognition of the radio frequency (RF) signals.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare tissue characterization between iMap and another previously validated tissue characterization system, integrated backscatter (IB)-IVUS in vivo and to clarify similarities and differences between these two methods.

Methods: A total of 31 lesions from 16 patients with ischemic heart disease were studied.

Transcription factor Spi-B-dependent and -independent pathways for the development of Peyer's patch M cells.

Although many of the biological features of microfold cells (M cells) have been known for many years, the molecular mechanisms of M-cell development and antigen recognition have remained unclear. Here, we report that Umod is a novel M-cell-specific gene, the translation products of which might contribute to the uptake function of M cells. Transcription factor Spi-B was also specifically expressed in M cells among non-hematopoietic lineages.

A rare case of impending paradoxical embolism with a complex patent foramen ovale.

A 68-year-old woman, who presented with pulmonary embolism, was diagnosed as having an impending paradoxical thromboembolism by transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, which revealed an entrapped thrombus in the atrial septum. The patient underwent surgery for thromboembolectomy. A patent foramen ovale (PFO) appeared as a tunnel with three openings into the left atrium; one opening located close to the antero-superior left atrial wall and two small atrial septal defects of a septum primum.

Culprit lesion remodelling and long-term prognosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome: an intravascular ultrasound study.

Aims: Positive arterial remodelling is recognized as one of the morphological characteristics of the vulnerable plaque. Limited data are available on a long-term outcome of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with culprit lesion positive arterial remodelling (PR). The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term impact of culprit lesion PR in patients with ACS.

Aortic atherosclerotic plaque and long-term prognosis in patients with atrial fibrillation-a transesophageal echocardiography study.

Background: Both left atrial spontaneous echo contrast (LASEC) and aortic atherosclerotic plaque (AoP) ≥ 4.0 mm in thickness are predictors of cardiovascular events after stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate impact of AoP ≥ 4.

Intracoronary artery transplantation of cardiomyoblast-like cells from human adipose tissue-derived multi-lineage progenitor cells improve left ventricular dysfunction and survival in a swine model of chronic myocardial infarction.

Transplantation of human cardiomyoblast-like cells (hCLCs) from human adipose tissue-derived multi-lineage progenitor cells improved left ventricular function and survival of rats with myocardial infarction. Here we examined the effect of intracoronary artery transplantation of human CLCs in a swine model of chronic heart failure. Twenty-four pigs underwent balloon-occlusion of the first diagonal branch followed by reperfusion, with a second balloon-occlusion of the left ascending coronary artery 1 week later followed by reperfusion.

Recurrence of late incomplete stent apposition after very late stent thrombosis following drug-eluting stent implantation.

A 48-year old man was admitted to our hospital because of chest pain 20 months after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation to his left anterior descending coronary artery. A coronary angiogram showed a thrombosis of the stented segment, which was successfully treated with bare-metal stent implantation. One month later, optical coherence tomography (OCT) demonstrated late-acquired incomplete stent apposition (ISA) in the stented segment.

A case of platypnea orthodeoxia syndrome: a persistent history taking was the key to the diagnosis.

A 79-year-old woman who had been suffering from dyspnea on effort for more than 50 years was admitted for further examination and treatment. On the screening respiratory examinations, the A-aDO2 was elevated but none of diffusion disturbance, ventilation-perfusion ratio inequality nor right-to-left shunt was detected. Finally, the fact that the dizziness occurred only in sitting or standing position was revealed by persistent history taking.

[Performance and clinical utility of a high-sensitivity troponin T assay].

In the present study, we evaluated the performance and clinical utility of a high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay. The within- and between-assay variations (coefficients of variation: CV) in the low and high concentrations of troponin T in serum samples were 0.84% to 3.

Terminal sequence importance of de novo proteins from binary-patterned library: stable artificial proteins with 11- or 12-amino acid alphabet.

Successful approaches of de novo protein design suggest a great potential to create novel structural folds and to understand natural rules of protein folding. For these purposes, smaller and simpler de novo proteins have been developed. Here, we constructed smaller proteins by removing the terminal sequences from stable de novo vTAJ proteins and compared stabilities between mutant and original proteins.

Influence of chronic tethering of the mitral valve on mitral leaflet size and coaptation in functional mitral regurgitation.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to examine whether tethering of the mitral leaflets affects coaptation in patients with functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) and to assess the interaction between the mitral coaptation and mitral regurgitation severity.

Background: Functional mitral regurgitation causes restriction of leaflet closure as a result of enhanced tethering of the mitral leaflets and papillary muscle (PM) displacement.

Methods: Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 44 patients with FMR related to the bilateral PM displacement and in 56 controls.

Natural history of stent edge dissection, tissue protrusion and incomplete stent apposition detectable only on optical coherence tomography after stent implantation – preliminary observation – .

Background: The clinical impact of stent edge dissection, tissue protrusion, and incomplete stent apposition (ISA) after stent implantation, detectable only on optical coherence tomography (OCT), is still unknown because the natural course has not been investigated.

Methods And Results: All consecutive patients with angina pectoris in whom both intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and OCT were performed immediately after stenting and at follow-up were included in the present study. The natural history of OCT-detected stent edge dissection, tissue protrusion, and ISA during follow-up was investigated.