Publications by authors named "Takakusaki K"

Light-polymerizing reline materials offer improved chairside workability compared to conventional auto-polymerizing reline materials, addressing the partial denture (RPD) incompatibility caused by residual ridge resorption owing to long-term use. This study evaluates the fitting accuracy of relined materials by combining conventional fitting tests with three-dimensional (3D) measurements for detailed analysis. Light-polymerizing reline material (HikariLiner, Tokuyama, Tokyo, Japan, LP) and auto-polymerizing material (Rebase III, Tokuyama, AP) were used.

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The evolution of brain-expressed genes is notably slower than that of genes expressed in other tissues, a phenomenon likely due to high-level functional constraints. One such constraint might be the integration of information by neuron assemblies, enhancing environmental adaptability. This study explores the physiological mechanisms of information integration in neurons through three types of synchronization: chemical, electromagnetic, and quantum.

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Article Synopsis
  • Earth's abundance of iron has been essential for the development of life, influencing biochemical processes and leading to the emergence of early life forms near hydrothermal vents.
  • Iron also plays a role in the evolution of organisms like magnetotactic bacteria, which can detect the Earth's geomagnetic field, showing adaptations beyond humans' conventional senses.
  • Research on species such as zebrafish and pigeons indicates that various life forms have specialized mechanisms for geomagnetic sensing, hinting at complex interactions in the brain related to magnetic fields and their implications for human magnetoreception.
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Background: An impaired intestinal barrier with the activation of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and proinflammatory cytokine signaling, resulting in visceral hypersensitivity, is a crucial aspect of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The gut exhibits abundant expression of neurotensin; however, its role in the pathophysiology of IBS remains uncertain. This study aimed to clarify the effects of PD149163, a specific agonist for neurotensin receptor 1 (NTR1), on visceral sensation and gut barrier in rat IBS models.

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  • - The study compared the accuracy of impressions taken of hypermobile teeth in partially edentulous dental arches using digital and conventional methods, assessing a mandibular model with three target teeth.
  • - Results showed that digital impressions significantly outperformed hydrocolloid impressions for two of the three teeth tested, while the accuracy of digital and silicone impressions was similar.
  • - The research concluded that using an intraoral scanner (digital method) is preferable for minimizing hypermobile tooth deviations compared to hydrocolloid impressions, with the accuracy varying based on the specific tooth's location.
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The purpose of this review extends beyond the traditional triune brain model, aiming to elucidate the evolutionary aspects of alpha rhythms in vertebrates. The forebrain, comprising the telencephalon (pallium) and diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus), is a common feature in the brains of all vertebrates. In mammals, evolution has prioritized the development of the forebrain, especially the neocortex, over the midbrain (mesencephalon) optic tectum, which serves as the prototype for the visual brain.

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Visceral hypersensitivity resulting from compromised gut barrier with activated immune system is a key feature of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activate proinflammatory cytokine signaling to induce these changes, which is one of the mechanisms of IBS. As activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or TLR4 leads to release interleukin (IL)-1β, the NLRP3 inflammasome may be involved in the pathophysiology of IBS.

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  • Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often show a forward flexed posture, potentially due to increased muscle tone.
  • Researchers used a computational model to analyze muscle tone and posture in PD patients, finding that postures with minimal sway corresponded closely to actual patient conditions.
  • The study supports the hypothesis that addressing increased muscle tone might improve abnormal postures in PD patients, highlighting potential clinical applications.
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Although digital impression using an intraoral scanner (IOS) has been applied for removable partial denture (RPD) fabrication, it is still unclear how the morphology of a residual ridge recorded by digital impression would differ from that recorded by conventional impression. This in vivo study investigated the morphological difference in the recorded residual ridge between digital and conventional impressions. Vertical and horizontal displacements (VD and HD) in residual ridges recorded by digital and conventional impressions were assessed in 22 participants (15 female; mean age 78.

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  • Patients with Parkinson's disease exhibit abnormal postures, such as stooped postures and Pisa syndrome, which may function as compensatory mechanisms to reduce sway while standing.
  • The study investigates whether these abnormal postures, characterized by increased muscle tone, lead to less sway compared to normal upright standing by using a musculoskeletal model and a neural controller model.
  • Results show that the joint-angle differences between optimized postures for minimizing sway and the actual postures of patients with PD are less than 4°, indicating a close relationship between posture and sway control in PD patients.
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Background: Postoperative ileus (POI) is a major complication of abdominal surgery (AS). Impaired gut barrier mediated via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor is involved in the development of POI. Phlorizin is a nonselective inhibitor of sodium-linked glucose transporters (SGLTs) and is known to improve lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced impaired gut barrier.

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The frontal lobe is crucial and contributes to controlling truncal motion, postural responses, and maintaining equilibrium and locomotion. The rich repertoire of frontal gait disorders gives some indication of this complexity. For human walking, it is necessary to simultaneously achieve at least two tasks, such as maintaining a bipedal upright posture and locomotion.

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Visceral hypersensitivity and leaky gut, which are mediated via corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and Toll-like receptor 4 are key pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Metformin was reported to improve these gastrointestinal (GI) changes. In this study, we attempted to determine the effects of imeglimin, which was synthesized from metformin on GI function in IBS rat models.

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Regulation of posture-gait control by the basal ganglia (BG) plays a critical role in the acquisition of automatically executed context-dependent learned motor acts, technically referred to as habit formation. Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) show posture-gait disturbances and progressively lose habitual behaviors. Injury to dopamine (DA) neurons in the midbrain is implicated as the primary pathophysiological mechanism underlying PD; therefore, DA actions in the BG play a pivotal role in optimal BG function.

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Growing evidence indicates that visceral hypersensitivity and impaired gut barrier play an important role in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In animal models, these changes are known to be mediated via corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)-proinflammatory cytokine signaling. Apelin, an endogenous ligand of APJ, was reported to modulate CRF-induced enhanced colonic motility.

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This study aimed to evaluate the effect of retention hole designs in artificial teeth on failure resistance of the connection with a thermoplastic denture base resin. Artificial teeth with the following retention hole designs were attached to polyester and polyamide resins: no hole, vertical hole, horizontal hole, and vertical and horizontal holes. An artificial tooth with no hole attached to polymethyl methacrylate was prepared as the control.

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Humans are able to control their posture in their daily lives. It is important to understand how this is achieved in order to understand the mechanisms that lead to impaired postural control in various diseases. The descending tracts play an important role in controlling posture, particularly the reticulospinal and the vestibulospinal tracts (VST), and there is evidence that the latter is impaired in various diseases.

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[Purpose] Patellar tendinopathy is a common sports injury. The risk factors for this injury can be categorized as intrinsic, extrinsic, and dynamic. We examined the dynamic factors in this study.

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Postural control precedes the goal-directed movement to maintain body equilibrium during the action. Because the environment continuously changes due to one's activity, postural control requires a higher-order brain function that predicts the interaction between the body and the environment. Here, we tried to elucidate to what extent such a preceding postural control (PPC) predictively offered a posture that ensured the entire process of the goal-directed movement before starting the action.

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Gait and balance abnormalities develop commonly in Parkinson's disease and are among the motor symptoms most disabling and refractory to dopaminergic or other treatments, including deep brain stimulation. Efforts to develop effective therapies are challenged by limited understanding of these complex disorders. There is a major need for novel and appropriately targeted research to expedite progress in this area.

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Post-stroke complications are the second most frequent cause of death and the third leading cause of disability worldwide. The motor function of post-stroke patients is often assessed by measuring the postural sway in the patients during quiet standing, based on sway measures, such as sway area and velocity, which are obtained from temporal variations of the center of pressure. However, such approaches to establish a relationship between the sway measures and patients' demographic factors have hardly been successful (e.

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Background: To maintain an upright standing posture against external disturbances, the human body mainly employs two types of postural control strategies: "ankle strategy" and "hip strategy." While it has been reported that the magnitude of the disturbance alters the use of postural control strategies, it has not been elucidated how the level of muscle tone, one of the crucial parameters of bodily function, determines the use of each strategy. We have previously confirmed using forward dynamics simulations of human musculoskeletal models that an increased muscle tone promotes the use of ankle strategies.

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Visceral hypersensitivity and impaired gut barrier are crucial pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and injection of lipopolysaccharide or corticotropin-releasing factor, and repeated water avoidance stress simulate these gastrointestinal changes in rat (IBS models). We previously demonstrated that losartan, an angiotensin II type 1 (AT) receptor antagonist prevented these changes, and we attempted to determine the effects of EMA401, an AT receptor antagonist in the current study. EMA401 blocked visceral hypersensitivity and colonic hyperpermeability in these models, and naloxone reversed the effects by EMA401.

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Visceral hypersensitivity and impaired gut barrier are crucial contributors to the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and those are mediated via corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-Toll like receptor 4-pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling. Phlorizin is an inhibitor of sodium-linked glucose transporters (SGLTs), and known to have anti-cytokine properties. Thus, we hypothesized that phlorizin may improve these gastrointestinal changes in IBS, and tested this hypothesis in rat IBS models, i.

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