Occipital hypoperfusion and motor reserve in Parkinson's disease: an early-phase F-FP-CIT PET study.

Individual variability exists in parkinsonian motor symptoms despite a similar degree of nigrostriatal dopamine depletion in Parkinson's disease (PD), called motor reserve. We enrolled 397 patients newly diagnosed with PD who underwent dual-phase F-FP-CIT PET upon initial assessment. Individual motor reserve was estimated based on initial parkinsonian motor symptoms and striatal dopamine transporter availability using a residual model.

Retroductal dexamethasone administration promotes the recovery from obstructive and inflammatory salivary gland dysfunction.

Introduction: Salivary gland dysfunction, often resulting from salivary gland obstruction-induced inflammation, is a prevalent condition. Corticosteroid, known for its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, is commonly prescribed in clinics. This study investigates the therapeutic implications and potential side effects of dexamethasone on obstructive sialadenitis recovery using duct ligation mice and salivary gland organoid models.

Regional Burden of Enlarged Perivascular Spaces and Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Drug-Naive Patients With Parkinson Disease.

Background And Objectives: Although the potential role of enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVSs) in Parkinson disease (PD) is increasingly recognized, whether EPVSs located in different anatomical regions exert differential effects on clinical manifestation remains uncertain. We investigated the regional EPVS burden and its association with cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) in newly diagnosed PD population.

Methods: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, EPVS in the temporal lobe (T-EPVS), centrum semiovale (CS-EPVS), and basal ganglia (BG-EPVS) were visually rated in drug-naive patients with PD who underwent magnetic resonance imaging, dopamine transporter (DAT) scans, neuropsychological assessments, and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire at baseline.

Exploring the impedance-matching effect in terahertz reflection imaging of skin tissue.

Terahertz (THz) electromagnetic waves, known for their unique response to water, offer promising opportunities for next-generation biomedical diagnostics and novel cancer therapy technologies. This study investigated the impedance-matching effect, which enhances the efficiency of THz wave delivery into tissues and compensates for the signal distortion induced by the refractive index mismatch between the target and the sample substrate. Three candidate biocompatible materials, water, glycerol, and petroleum jelly were applied to a skin phantom and compared using THz two-dimensional imaging and time-of-flight imaging methods.

The Usefulness of Salivary Gland Organoids for Evaluation of the Potency of Botulinum Neurotoxin.

Background And Objectives: Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is a substance used to treat chronic sialorrhea, muscle dystonia, and is used in cosmetic applications. Measuring the potency of BoNT is crucial because it acts even with a small amount. However, the current methods for measuring the potency of BoNT involve using two-dimensional neuroblastoma cell line-based methods.

Celastrol suppresses the growth of vestibular schwannoma in mice by promoting the degradation of β-catenin.

Vestibular schwannoma (VS), one of characteristic tumors of neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), is an intracranial tumor that arises from Schwann cells of the vestibular nerve. VS results in hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, and even death, but there are currently no FDA-approved drugs for treatment. In this study, we established a high-throughput screening to discover effective compounds that could inhibit the viability of VS cells.

Thermoresponsive fiber-based microwells capable of formation and retrieval of salivary gland stem cell spheroids for the regeneration of irradiation-damaged salivary glands.

Three-dimensional spheroid culture enhances cell-to-cell interactions among stem cells and promotes the expression of stem cell properties; however, subsequent retrieval and delivery of these cells remain a challenge. We fabricated a thermoresponsive fiber-based microwell scaffold by combining electrospinning and hydrogel micropatterning. The resultant scaffold appeared to facilitate the formation of cellular spheroids of uniform size and enabled the expression of more stem cell-secreting growth factor genes (, , , , and ), pluripotent stem cell-related genes ( and ), and adult epithelial stem cell-related genes (, , and ) than salivary gland stem cells in a monolayer culture (SGSC).

3D Organoid Culture From Adult Salivary Gland Tissues as an Modeling of Salivary Gland Morphogenesis.

Lumen formation of salivary glands has been investigated using or rudiment culture models. In this study, we used a three-dimensional (3D) salivary gland organoid culture system and demonstrated that lumen formation could be recapitulated in mouse SMG organoids. In our organoid culture system, lumen formation was induced by vasoactive intestinal peptide and accelerated by treatment with RA.

Characterization of Bacillus velezensis AK-0 as a biocontrol agent against apple bitter rot caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

Bacillus genus produces several secondary metabolites with biocontrol ability against various phytopathogens. Bacillus velezensis AK-0 (AK-0), an antagonistic strain isolated from Korean ginseng rhizospheric soil, was found to exhibit antagonistic activity against several phytopathogens. To further display the genetic mechanism of the biocontrol traits of AK-0, we report the complete genome sequence of AK-0 and compared it with complete genome sequences of closely related strains.

A hepatocyte growth factor/MET-induced antiapoptotic pathway protects against radiation-induced salivary gland dysfunction.

Objective: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor MET are expressed in the salivary glands during developmental stages and tumor formation; however, the function of HGF in injured salivary gland tissues remains unclear. The present study investigated the role of HGF in protecting the salivary glands against radiation-induced injury using an organotypic culture method.

Materials And Methods: Acinar-like organoids were formed by means of a three-dimensional (3D) human parotid tissue-derived spheroids (hPTS) culture method.

A 60 Hz uniform electromagnetic field promotes human cell proliferation by decreasing intracellular reactive oxygen species levels.

Previously, we showed that exposure of human normal and cancer cells to a 6 mT, 60 Hz gradient electromagnetic field (EMF) induced genotoxicity. Here, we investigated the cellular effects of a uniform EMF. Single or repetitive exposure to a 6 mT, 60 Hz uniform EMF neither induced DNA damage nor affected cell viability in HeLa and primary IMR-90 fibroblasts.

Anti-tumor effects of cold atmospheric pressure plasma on vestibular schwannoma demonstrate its feasibility as an intra-operative adjuvant treatment.

Vestibular schwannoma (VS), although a benign intracranial tumor, causes morbidities by brainstem compression. Since chemotherapy is not very effective in most Nf2-negative schwannomas, surgical removal or radiation therapy is required. However, depending on the size and site of the tumor, these approaches may cause loss of auditory or vestibular functions, and severely decrease the post-surgical wellbeing.

Combined use of crushed cartilage and processed fascia lata for dorsal augmentation in rhinoplasty for Asians.

Objectives/hypothesis: Autologous dorsal nasal grafts have limitations including limited tissue availability, additional surgery time, donor site morbidity, a visible graft contour, and postoperative distortions and deformities owing to displacement and warping. This report describes our experience using combined Tutoplast-processed fascia lata (TPFL) and crushed cartilage for dorsal augmentation and contouring in rhinoplasty.

Study Design: A retrospective clinical chart review.