Effects of primer components of silane and 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate on resin bonding to tribochemical silica-coated highly translucent zirconia.

Objectives: To assess the influence of different primer compositions-silane (S), 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP), and the combination of silane and MDP (S + MDP)-on the bonding performance of MDP-free and MDP-containing resin cements to highly translucent zirconia.

Materials And Methods: Tribochemical silica-coated zirconia plates were pretreated with one of three experimental primers, S, MDP, or S + MDP, with untreated specimens serving as controls. Subsequently, these plates were bonded to stainless-steel rods using either two MDP-free or two MDP-containing resin cements.

A nationwide molecular epidemiological study on hepatitis B virus in Indonesia: identification of two novel subgenotypes, B8 and C7.

Upon phylogenetic analysis of a partial S gene sequence [396 nucleotides (nt)], 928 hepatitis B virus (HBV) strains obtained from 899 viremic subjects in 28 major cities on 15 islands of Indonesia in 1989-2007 segregated into four HBV genotypes. Genotype B was predominant (66%), followed by genotype C (26%), genotype D (7%), and genotype A (0.8%).

Epidemiology of hepatitis B, C, and E viruses and human immunodeficiency virus infections in Tahuna, Sangihe-Talaud Archipelago, Indonesia.

Background/aims: The epidemiology of hepatitis B, C,E viruses (HBV, HCV, HEV) and human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) has been obscure in Indonesia, particularly remote areas.

Methods: We undertook serological surveys for HBV/HCV/HEV/HIV infections in the general population of Tahuna, the capital city of Sangihe-Talaud Archipelago,outlier in the northeastern part of Indonesia.

Results: Of 581 sera collected in April 2005, 1.

High prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and inferior vena cava obstruction among patients with liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma in Nepal.

Background: Little is known about the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and the genotype distribution among patients with liver diseases in Nepal, where obstruction of the hepatic portion of the inferior vena cava (IVCO) is common. The aim of the present paper was to assess the roles of HBV infection and IVCO in liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Nepal.

Methods: Serum samples from 121 patients (89 male, 32 female; age, 55.

Identification of genotype 4 hepatitis E virus strains from a patient with acute hepatitis E and farm pigs in Bali, Indonesia.

A previous study revealed that antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) (anti-HEV) are highly prevalent among healthy individuals and farm pigs in Bali, Indonesia, and suggested that HEV infection may occur via zoonosis among Balinese people. However, there were no reports of acute hepatitis E in Bali. To elucidate whether Balinese HEV strains recovered from infected humans and pigs have significant sequence similarity, serum samples obtained from 57 patients (age, mean +/- standard deviation, 31.

Unchanged high prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) and HEV RNA among blood donors with an elevated alanine aminotransferase level in Japan during 1991-2006.

Hepatitis E is rare in Japan but is occurring more frequently than previously thought. To investigate whether de novo subclinical infection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) has recently increased in Japan, HEV RNA was assayed in serum samples obtained from 4019 Japanese voluntary blood donors with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of > or =61 IU/l, who are likely to have ongoing HEV infection, during 1991-2006. The overall rates of IgG-class antibody to HEV (anti-HEV IgG), anti-HEV IgM/IgA and HEV RNA among 3185 donors in 2004-2006 were comparable with those among 594 donors in 1998 (5.

Development and validation of an improved RT-PCR assay with nested universal primers for detection of hepatitis E virus strains with significant sequence divergence.

Recent studies revealed that hepatitis E virus (HEV) genomes are more variable than previously thought and well-conserved regions suitable for designing universal primers are limited. In this study, based on alignment of 70 full-length HEV sequences of genotypes 1-4, a part of the ORF2/ORF3 overlapping region was found to be the best target region for PCR amplification of various HEV strains. Using the newly designed primers, an RT-PCR method (ORF2/3-137 PCR) that amplifies a 137-nucleotide (nt) sequence within the ORF2/ORF3 overlapping region and is capable of amplifying all known HEV sequences was developed.

Distinct changing profiles of hepatitis A and E virus infection among patients with acute hepatitis, patients on maintenance hemodialysis and healthy individuals in Japan.

To compare the epidemiologic profiles of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in Japan, the prevalence of clinical or subclinical HAV and HEV infections was investigated serologically and molecularly among 128 consecutive patients (age, mean +/- standard deviation, 37.5 +/- 14.7 years) who contracted acute hepatitis between 1989 and 2005 in a city hospital, and among 416 hemodialysis patients (60.

Serological and molecular studies on subclinical hepatitis E virus infection using periodic serum samples obtained from healthy individuals.

Subclinical hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among healthy individuals was studied serologically and molecularly. Serum samples collected at screening between March and April 2004 (or just before retirement) from 266 medical staff members (35 males, 231 females) who had been working for 8.8 +/- 8.

Possible risk factors for the transmission of hepatitis E virus and for the severe form of hepatitis E acquired locally in Hokkaido, Japan.

Hepatitis E in industrialized countries has not been well studied. To define the possible risk factors for transmission of hepatitis E virus (HEV) and for the severe form of hepatitis E in Japan, we investigated the clinical and virological characteristics of hepatitis E in 32 patients who contracted the mild (n=23) or severe form (n=9) of domestically acquired hepatitis E between 1996 and 2004 in Hokkaido, where hepatitis E is most prevalent in Japan. Nine patients with the severe form of hepatitis E included two patients with fulminant hepatitis E and seven patients who were diagnosed with severe acute hepatitis in which hepatic encephalopathy did not appear during the course of the illness despite low plasma prothrombin activity (or=20 mg/dl).

Unilateral lesions of mesostriatal dopaminergic pathway alters the withdrawal response of the rat hindpaw to mechanical stimulation.

To investigate the role mesostriatal dopamine system plays in pain processing, we examined the withdrawal response of rat hindpaws to mechanical stimulus at 1, 4, and 12 weeks after unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of the mesostriatal pathway. In all of the 6-OHDA rats examined, almost no tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity was detected in the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and striatum ipsilateral to 6-OHDA lesions. Alteration in the withdrawal response in this model animal was evaluated by comparing the latency of withdrawal reflex following the mechanical stimulus to the hindpaw.

Characterization of seven genotypes (A to E, G and H) of hepatitis B virus recovered from Japanese patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

To investigate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and characteristics of HBV isolates among Japanese patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV), serum samples collected between September 1990 and March 2002 from 471 HIV-infected patients (age, 38.8 +/- 11.4 [mean +/- standard deviation] years; male, 90%) were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV DNA.

Serological markers of hepatitis B, C, and E viruses and human immunodeficiency virus type-1 infections in pregnant women in Bali, Indonesia.

Except for hepatitis B virus (HBV), there have been few data on serological markers of hepatitis viruses such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and E virus (HEV), and human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV) in Bali, Indonesia. During 5 months from April to August 2003, sera were collected from 2,450 pregnant women at eight jurisdictions in Bali, and they were tested for markers of these viruses. Only one (0.

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus infection among hemodialysis patients in Japan: evidence for infection with a genotype 3 HEV by blood transfusion.

To investigate the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among patients on maintenance hemodialysis, serum samples collected in January 2003 from 416 patients who had been undergoing hemodialysis for 7.6 +/- 6.3 (mean +/- standard deviation) (range, 0.

Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus among apparently healthy humans and pigs in Bali, Indonesia: Identification of a pig infected with a genotype 4 hepatitis E virus.

In Indonesia where hepatitis E virus (HEV) is believed to be highly endemic, only three outbreaks of HEV transmission have been documented to date in restricted areas (West Kalimantan and East Java). A total of 1,115 serum samples collected from apparently healthy individuals in Bali, Lombok, and Surabaya in Indonesia in 1996 where epidemic HEV transmissions have never been reported, were tested for IgG class antibodies to HEV (anti-HEV). In Bali, anti-HEV was detected in 20% (54/276) of the tested population, in remarkable contrast with 4% (17/446) in Lombok and 0.

High prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis A and E viruses and viremia of hepatitis B, C, and D viruses among apparently healthy populations in Mongolia.

The prevalence of infection with hepatitis A virus (HAV), HBV, HCV, HDV, and HEV was evaluated in 249 apparently healthy individuals, including 122 inhabitants in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, and 127 age- and sex-matched members of nomadic tribes who lived around the capital city. Overall, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected in 24 subjects (10%), of whom 22 (92%) had detectable HBV DNA. Surprisingly, HDV RNA was detectable in 20 (83%) of the 24 HBsAg-positive subjects.

Genetic changes in hepatitis E virus of subtype 1a in patients with sporadic acute hepatitis E in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 1997 to 2002.

To investigate the genetic changes in hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal, we compared the 412 nt sequence within open reading frame 2 of HEV among HEV isolates recovered from 16 patients in 1999, 14 patients in 2000 and 38 patients in 2002, and additional isolates recovered from 48 patients in 1997 whose nucleotide sequences have been previously published. All 116 HEV-viraemic samples were genotyped as 1 and subtyped further as 1a (n=85, 73 %), 1c (n=29, 25 %) and mixed infection of 1a and 1c (n=2, 2 %): subtype 1c was detected only in 1997. Among the 1a isolates, nucleotide sequence identity with the representative 1a isolate of Ne131-1997 was 96.

Molecular investigation of hepatitis E virus infection in patients with acute hepatitis in Kathmandu, Nepal.

One hundred fifty-four consecutive patients with sporadic acute hepatitis, who were seen at a city hospital in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal in 1997, were studied. IgM antibodies to hepatitis A virus were detected in four patients (3%), IgM antibodies to hepatitis B core in four patients (3%), hepatitis B surface antigen in 20 (13%), and hepatitis C virus RNA in four patients (3%). IgM antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) (anti-HEV IgM) and HEV RNA were detected in 77 (50%) and 48 (31%), respectively.

Swine hepatitis E virus strains in Japan form four phylogenetic clusters comparable with those of Japanese isolates of human hepatitis E virus.

Japanese patients with sporadic acute hepatitis E are infected with polyphyletic strains of hepatitis E virus (HEV). Hepatitis E is considered a zoonotic disease. Thus far in Japan, only three strains of swine HEV have been identified and an antibody study for HEV antibodies has not been done on Japanese pigs.

High prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection amongst Tibetans in Nepal.

Tibetans have been living in Nepal since 1959. Study of the prevalence of viral hepatitis among them showed that they have a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Prevalence of total HBV infection and Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among them was 61% and 16% compared to 10.

Persistence of hepatitis B viremia after recovery from acute hepatitis B: correlation between anti-HBc titer and HBV DNA in serum.

During the follow-up of 19 patients with self-limited acute hepatitis B for more than 2 years, clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen from the sera was observed in all patients within 6 months after disease onset, and the corresponding antibody (anti-HBs) appeared in 17 of the 19 patients within 12 months. However, upon performing nested polymerase chain reaction with the estimated sensitivity of 120-200 copies/ml, using two independent pairs of primers derived from the well-conserved sequences in the S gene or C gene region of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genomes of all seven genotypes, HBV DNA was detected over a period of at least 12 months in serum samples obtained from five (26%) of the 19 patients, although it became undetectable in all five patients at 2-3 years after disease onset. The titer of antibody against hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), assayed by the hemagglutination inhibition (HI, 2(N)) test, was significantly lower at the initial examination in the five patients who remained viremic for at least 12 months, than in the remaining 14 patients who cleared HBV DNA from their sera within 12 months after disease onset (10.

TT virus is distributed in various leukocyte subpopulations at distinct levels, with the highest viral load in granulocytes.

When TT virus (TTV) DNA was quantitated in whole blood and plasma aliquots from 27 viremic individuals by real-time detection PCR that can detect essentially all TTV genotypes, the TTV load was 6.9 +/- 3.5 (mean +/- standard deviation)-fold higher in the whole blood than in the plasma samples [P < 0.

Heterogeneous distribution of TT virus of distinct genotypes in multiple tissues from infected humans.

TT virus (TTV) DNA was quantitated in the serum and nine autopsy tissues (bone marrow, lymph node, muscle, thyroid gland, lung, liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidney) obtained from each of three TTV-infected subjects by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which can detect all TTV genotypes. TTV DNA was detected in all examined tissues, with the viral load being equal to or up to 300 times higher than that in the corresponding serum (2.1 x 10(5) to 5.