Bacterial cellulose gels with high mechanical strength.

A composite structure was formed between polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and bacterial cellulose (BC) gels swollen in polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a solvent (BC/PEG gel) to improve the mechanical strength of the gels. The mechanical strength under compression and the rheostatic properties of the gels were evaluated. The compression test results indicated that the mechanical strength of the gels depended on the weight percent of cross-linked PEGDA in the gel, the chain length between the cross-linking points, and the cross-linking density of PEGDA polymers.

Left axillary pacemaker generator implantation with a direct puncture of the left axillary vein.

Background: Pacemaker generators are routinely implanted in the anterior chest. However, where to place the generator may need to be considered from the mental, functional, and cosmetic standpoints.

Methods: In this study, we performed the left axillary pacemaker generator implantation with a direct puncture of the left axillary vein in 40 consecutive patients, and evaluated the late safety and efficacy of this implantation.

In vitro evaluations of topical agents to treat Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of topical agents for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).

Design: Laboratory research.

Participants: Fifty-six Acanthamoeba isolates from 56 patients with clinically proven AK were studied.

Association of job demands with work engagement of Japanese employees: comparison of challenges with hindrances (J-HOPE).

Objectives: Recent epidemiological research in Europe has reported that two groups of job demands, i.e., challenges and hindrances, are differently associated with work engagement.

Molecular charge contact biosensing based on the interaction of biologically modified magnetic beads with an ion-sensitive field effect transistor.

In this article, we report a novel method of biomolecular recognition based on the molecular charge contact (MCC). As one of the MCC biosensing method, the interaction between DNA-coated magnetic beads and a silicon-based semiconductor, an ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) could be detected for DNA molecular recognition events using the principle of the field effect, which enables detecting ionic or molecular charges. After DNA-coated magnetic beads had been introduced and brought in contact with the gate surface by a magnet, the threshold voltage of the ISFET was shifted in the positive direction by immobilization, hybridization and extension reaction of DNA molecules on magnetic beads.

Reduction of gibberellin by low temperature disrupts pollen development in rice.

Microsporogenesis in rice (Oryza sativa) plants is susceptible to moderate low temperature (LT; approximately 19°C) that disrupts pollen development and causes severe reductions in grain yields. Although considerable research has been invested in the study of cool-temperature injury, a full understanding of the molecular mechanism has not been achieved. Here, we show that endogenous levels of the bioactive gibberellins (GAs) GA4 and GA7, and expression levels of the GA biosynthesis genes GA20ox3 and GA3ox1, decrease in the developing anthers by exposure to LT.

Ratiometric MRI sensors based on core-shell nanoparticles for quantitative pH imaging.

Ratiometric MRI sensors consist of paramagnetic cores and pH-sensitive polymer shells. The core-shell nanostructure enables the coexistence of two incompatible NMR relaxation properties in one particle. The sensors show pH sensitivity in transverse relaxivity (r2 ), but not in longitudinal relaxivity (r1 ).

Patient preferences regarding intraoperative versus external beam radiotherapy following breast-conserving surgery.

The TARGIT-A Trial is an international randomized, prospective trial comparing intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for equivalence to external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) following lumpectomy for invasive breast cancer in selected low-risk patients; early results suggest that outcomes are similar. In addition to effectiveness data and cost considerations, the preferences of patients should help inform practice. This study was undertaken to explore and quantify preference in choosing between IORT and the current standard, EBRT.

Impact of TRPV3 on the development of allergic dermatitis as a dendritic cell modulator.

The transient receptor potential channel vanilloid subfamily V member 3 (TRPV3), which functions as a thermosensor in keratinocytes, plays an important role in the development of allergic and itchy dermatitis in rodents. Although real-time PCR analysis using lesional and non-lesional skin samples from patients with atopic dermatitis showed that TRPV3 was expressed in lesional skin, the role that TRPV3 plays in patients with dermatitis is still relatively obscure. Here, we determined whether TRPV3 was a dendritic cell (DC) modulator using DS-Nh mice with a gain-of-function mutation in TRPV3 (TRPV3Gly573Ser), because increasing skin temperature is associated with the modulation of dermal dendritic cells (DCs).

Age-related sex differences in erector spinae muscle endurance using surface electromyographic power spectral analysis in healthy humans.

Background Context: Previous studies reported that the erector spinae muscle is more resistant to fatigue in healthy adult women than in men. However, no study has reported changes in back muscle fatigue with aging in healthy men and women.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate age-related changes in muscle fatigue of erector spinae muscle in men and women.

Aqueous synthesis of glutathione-coated PbS quantum dots with tunable emission for non-invasive fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared biological window (1000-1400 nm).

Glutathione-coated PbS quantum dots with tunable emission were synthesized in the aqueous phase and used for non-invasive tissue imaging in the second near-infrared biological window.

Single embryo-coupled gate field effect transistor for elective single embryo transfer.

In this study, we have proposed and demonstrated experimentally a novel monitoring device of single mouse embryo activity after in vitro fertilization (IVF) using a semiconductor-based field effect transistor (FET). The FET biosensor realized to detect it noninvasively, quantitatively, and continuously by change of hydrogen ions with positive charges, which were induced by dissolved carbon dioxide due to cellular respiration activity during cleavage. The electrical signal of FET biosensor should become an effective indication to evaluate objectively single embryo activity as its morphology is observed subjectively after IVF.

NUDT3 rs206936 is associated with body mass index in obese Japanese women.

The predominant risk factor of metabolic syndrome is intra-abdominal fat accumulation, which is determined by waist circumference, waist-hip ratio measurements and visceral fat area (VFA); the latter can be accurately measured by performing computed tomography (CT). In addition to environmental factors, genetic factors play an important role in obesity and fat distribution. New genetic loci associated with body mass index (BMI) and adiposity have been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs).

Lorentzian-like image blur of gold nanoparticles on thick amorphous silicon films in ultra-high-voltage transmission electron microscopy.

We quantitatively analyzed the contrast degradation and blur of 20-nm gold nanoparticles adsorbed on the top of amorphous silicon films of thicknesses of 0.54, 1.09, 1.

[New stream for the measurement of anti-platelet factor 4/heparin antibodies].

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a 'clinicopathologic syndrome'; therefore, its diagnosis depends on clinical criteria including the presence of thrombocytopenia and/or thrombosis and a pathological criterion implying the detectability of HIT antibodies. Recently, medical reimbursement (390 points) for assays of HIT antibodies using three new assay kits [HemosIL HIT-Ab(PF4-H), HemosIL AcuStar HIT IgG(PF4-H), HemosIL AcuStar HIT-Ab(PF4-H)] was approved in Japan. The HemosIL HIT-Ab(PF4-H) kit is a latex particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay to detect total heparin-associated antibodies found in HIT patients.

Structural modifications of dentinal microcracks with human aging.

Several studies have reported the mechanism of crack propagation with aging. Although structural modifications of dentinal microcracks with aging have been evaluated by observing the cracked surface using scanning electron microscope (SEM), very few attempts have been made at sectional observation of the microcracks inside dentine using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The objectives of this study were to: (1) examine the process of dentinal microcrack formation using TEM and (2) to morphologically evaluate the relation between dentinal microcrack propagation and human aging.

Simultaneous biosensing with quartz crystal microbalance with a dissipation coupled-gate semiconductor device.

In this study, we proposed and demonstrated a novel simultaneous analysis system of biosensing by combining a semiconductor-based field effect transistor (FET) with quartz crystal microbalance with a dissipation (QCM-D) monitoring system. Using the combined system, the changes of not only mass and viscoelasticity but also electrical charge for interaction of charged dextran molecules with substrate, recognition of glucose with low molecular weight, and programmed cell death, apoptosis, were simultaneously and quantitatively monitored in a label-free and real-time manner. The combined system will give more detailed information of biomolecule/substrate interface for development of new biomaterial.

Spleen-derived interleukin-10 downregulates the severity of high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease.

Obesity is associated with systemic low-grade inflammation and is a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD), but the molecular mechanisms of these associations are not clear. Interleukin (IL)-10, a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine, is released during acute pancreatitis and is known to limit inflammatory responses by downregulating the release of proinflammatory mediators. The origin of IL-10 that suppresses pancreatitis has not been investigated.

Reliable and reproducible method for rapid identification of Nocardia species by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been challenged for the identification of Nocardia species. However, the standard ethanol-formic acid extraction alone is insufficient in allowing the membrane proteins of Nocardia species to be ionized by the matrix. We therefore aimed to establish our new extraction method for the MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of Nocardia species isolates.

Chondrocyte spheroids on microfabricated PEG hydrogel surface and their noninvasive functional monitoring.

A two-dimensional microarray of 10 000 (100 × 100) chondrocyte spheroids was constructed with a 100 m spacing on a micropatterned gold electrode that was coated with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels. The PEGylated surface as a cytophobic region was regulated by controlling the gel structure through photolithography. In this way, a PEG hydrogel was modulated enough to inhibit outgrowth of chondrocytes from a cell adhering region in the horizontal direction, which is critical for inducing formation of three-dimensional chondrocyte aggregations (spheroids) within 24 h.