Publications by authors named "Toshihiro Hara"

Background: Oral hypofunction is the stage before oral dysfunction. The subjective symptoms of poor oral function and the decline in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) that occur in the oral hypofunction stage can be missed.

Objective: This multicentre cross-sectional study was performed to examine the relationships between the test results for oral hypofunction, subjective frailty symptoms and OHRQoL of outpatients in dental clinics.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study analyzed the impact of different dental prosthetic methods on patients with Kennedy Class I partial edentulism, focusing on aspects like oral function, frailty symptoms, and quality of life.
  • - 348 patients were divided into three groups: those with natural teeth (NT), those using removable partial dentures (RPD), and those with implant-supported fixed prostheses (ISFP), and their oral health was evaluated through various tests and questionnaires.
  • - Results indicated that the RPD group experienced poorer oral hygiene, reduced chewing ability, and higher rates of frailty symptoms compared to the ISFP group, suggesting that the type of prosthetic method significantly influences patients' oral health outcomes.
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Humans feel forces or weights while grasping and manipulating an object. There is a difference between the physical and perceived forces because the physical characteristics of an object and/or human psychophysical characteristics affect perceived force. Sense of effort plays an important role in deciding the movement made by humans.

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Each laminin α chain (α1-α5 chains) has chain-specific diverse biological functions. The C-terminal globular domain of the α chain consists of five laminin-like globular (LG1-5) modules and plays a critical role in biological activities. The LG modules consist of a 14-stranded β-sheet (A-N) sandwich structure.

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Objectives: Our research group developed new PET scanner with semiconductor detectors for high spatial resolution with low scatter noise. On head and neck cancer (HNC) surgery, FDG-PET may often provide false-positive findings in cervical node involvements. Accordingly, we assessed diagnostic accuracy using this new scanner in the HNC patients as compared with the conventional lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) PET.

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Purpose: The bile acids, phospholipids, inorganic ions, and pH in luminal fluid are very important factors for the dissolution and oral absorption of solid drugs. In this study, we evaluated the regional differences in these factors in the rat GI tract. The solubility of griseofulvin, a poorly water-soluble drug, in the luminal fluid in each segment was also measured.

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Various bone matrix proteins are produced during the process of osteogenesis. Many previous studies suggested that the topography of an implant surface might affect the expression of osteoblast-mediated cytokines. However, these earlier studies were performed using in vitro cell culture.

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The 14 cases of malignant submandibular tumor whose treatment outcome we analyzed between 1989 and 2008 included 5 of adenoid cystic carcinoma, 3 of squamous cell carcinoma, 2 each of mucoepidermoid carcinoma, and carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma, and 1 each of carcinosarcoma and large-cell carcinoma. One subject was diagnosed with T1, 7 with T2, 4 with T3, and 2 with T4. Lymph node involvement occurred in 5, -1 with N1 and 4 with N2.

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Cell adhesive peptides have been widely applied for therapeutic drugs, drug delivery systems, and biomaterials. Previously, we identified various cell adhesive sequences in the G domains of four laminin α chains (α2-α5) by the systematic soluble peptide screening. We also identified five cell-binding sequences in the laminin α1 chain G domain using synthetic peptide-polystyrene beads.

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Growth factors accelerate G0 to S progression in the cell cycle, however, the roles of growth factors in other cell cycle phases are largely unknown. Here, we show that treatment of HeLa cells with hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) at G2 phase induced the G2/M transition delay as evidenced by FACS analysis as well as by mitotic index and time-lapse analyses. Growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) also induced G2/M transition delay like HGF.

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Previously, bio-mechanical studies on the temporomandibular joint have concentrated mainly on the mandibular condyle while the articular eminence has been largely overlooked. Furthermore, research on the mechanical properties of bone using finite element analysis has focused on the cortical bone in preference to cancellous bone. In this study morphorogical changes in the internal structure of the articular eminence as related to child growth were examined using Micro-CT.

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Neurofibromin is a neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) tumor suppressor gene product with a domain that acts as a GTPase-activating protein and functions, in part, as a negative regulator of Ras. Loss of neurofibromin expression in NF1 patients is associated with elevated Ras activity and increased cell proliferation, predisposing to a variety of tumors of the peripheral and central nervous systems. We show here, using the small interfering RNA (siRNA) technique, that neurofibromin dynamically regulates actin cytoskeletal reorganization, followed by enhanced cell motility and gross cell aggregation in Matrigel matrix.

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Drosophila tumor suppressor WARTS (Wts) is an evolutionally conserved serine / threonine kinase and participates in a signaling complex that regulates both proliferation and apoptosis to ensure the proper size and shape of the fly. Human counterparts of this complex have been found to be frequently downregulated or mutated in cancers. WARTS, a human homolog of Wts, is also known as tumor suppressor and mitotic regulator, but its molecular implications in tumorigenesis are still obscure.

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It is said that the morphology of the jaw bone is greatly effected by the loss of teeth compared with the aging. To know the morphological changes of the mandible and maxilla with loss of the teeth is essential to reconstruct oral function. Therefore, we compared the edentulous jaw bone with the dentulous one.

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The jaw bone receive complicated forces not only through the muscles, but through the teeth directly. Therefore, it is thought that the morphology of the trabecular bone in jaw is greatly effected by the teeth. The structures of the trabecular bone are constructed in order to support the teeth.

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Defects in chromosomes or mitotic spindles activate the spindle checkpoint, resulting in cell cycle arrest at prometaphase. The prolonged activation of spindle checkpoint generally leads to mitotic exit without segregation after a transient mitotic arrest and the consequent formation of tetraploid G(1) cells. These tetraploid cells are usually blocked to enter the subsequent S phase by the activation of p53/pRb pathway, which is referred to as the G(1) tetraploidy checkpoint.

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Aurora-A, a member of the Aurora/Ipl1-related kinase family, is overexpressed in various types of cancer and considered to play critical roles in tumorigenesis. To better understand the pathological effect of Aurora-A activation, it is first necessary to elucidate the physiological functions of Aurora-A. Here, we have investigated the roles of Aurora-A in mitotic progression with the small interfering RNA, antibody microinjection, and time lapse microscopy using human cells.

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Identification of physiological substrates for Cdc2/cyclin B is crucial for understanding the functional link between mitotic events and Cdc2/cyclin B activation. A human homologue of the Drosophila warts tumor suppressor, termed WARTS, is a serine/threonine kinase and a dynamic component of the mitotic apparatus. We have found that Cdc2/cyclin B forms a complex with a fraction of WARTS in the centrosome and phosphorylates the Ser613 site of WARTS during mitosis.

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