Purpose: To evaluate the effect of transplanting bioengineered corneal endothelial grafts in a rabbit model of corneal endothelial failure.
Methods: Human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs) were ...seeded on a vitrigel carrier. After Descemet's membrane was removed from the eyes of rabbits, transplantation was done with a vitrigel/HCEC graft or vitrigel alone without cells, or the eyes were left untreated. Slit lamp examinations and measurement of the central corneal thickness (CCT) were performed for 14 days postoperatively.
Results: HCECs cultured on vitrigel were strongly positive for ZO-1 and Na+/K+ ATPase. On day 14, the cornea showed mild edema and the pupil margins were visible through the grafts in the vitrigel/HCEC graft group. HCECs completely covered the grafts on day 14. In contrast, there was severe corneal edema and the pupil margins were undetectable on day 14 after transplantation of the vitrigel carrier alone or no transplantation. Proliferation of host cells was not observed in these groups. On day 14, the mean CCT was significantly thinner in the vitrigel/HCEC graft group than in the other two groups (p = 0.0008).
Conclusions: Transplantation of a vitrigel/HCEC graft was effective for reducing the corneal thickness and restoring corneal transparency, suggesting the usefulness of vitrigel as a carrier for corneal endothelial cells.
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DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
There are no randomized controlled trials examining the effect of walking on childhood obesity.
Methods
A randomized controlled trial was conducted between August 2014 and April 2015 in ...Japan. Elementary school children aged 6 to 12 years with a percentage overweight (%OW) of ≥20% were recruited. One hundred and ninety children wanted to participate in the program, and all were accepted. After viewing a video that promoted physical activity through walking, participants were randomly assigned to three groups: walking (≥10 000 steps on school holidays), limiting screen time (<90 min on weekdays and <150 min on school holidays), and a control group (no intervention). The primary outcome was a decrease in %OW after 3 months’ intervention. Per protocol analysis was performed using 156 participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria of a %OW ≥20%.
Results
The mean %OW was 35 ± 7% before intervention. The mean reduction in %OW after intervention in the walking (n = 59), limiting ST (n = 46), and control (n = 51) groups were −4.06 ± 4.84, −1.97 ± 4.62, and −1.81 ± 3.64 percentage points, respectively. Reduction in %OW was significantly larger in the walking group than in the control group: adjusted mean difference, −2.18 percentage points (95% confidence interval, −3.85 to −0.52), P = 0.002. The intervention in children also had favorable effects on the lifestyles of their parents. The intention‐to‐treat analysis of all 190 participants showed comparable results.
Conclusion
Promoting physical activity through walking on school holidays may be an additional strategy for treating elementary school children with obesity.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Based on a longitudinal ethnography at a Japanese junior high school, this paper explores how ideologies of Japanese women’s language are subverted through girls’ everyday linguistic ...ideological work of breaking presumed linkages between female gender and language. Girls at Sakura Junior High School employed masculine and non-traditional first-person pronouns and created new sets of indexicalities. The ethnography tracks how the girls did this in three important ways: 1) They used the most masculine pronoun,
ore
, and attached positive metapragmatic meanings (such as “cool,” “powerful,” “independent,” and “assertive”) to their use of this pronoun. In doing so, they established a powerful
ore
register and persona for girl users. 2) They also interpreted their use of
boku
, a plain masculine pronoun, as gender-appropriate for girls, whereas they negatively regarded boy users of
boku
as weak mama’s boys. 3) They attached strongly negative metapragmatic meanings to feminine pronouns and created an unfavorable feminine register and persona for these pronouns from which they disaligned themselves. The girls’ persistence in aligning masculine and non-traditional registers did not point to any evidence of their desire to take on a male identity, but rather to their creation of positive indexicalities about masculine pronouns and to their engagement in the social capital of maleness that accompanies male speech. Consequently, girls’ ideological work contextually constructed new indexical fields where girls established their own space in which they severed the naturalized relationships between language, identities, and social categories.
Background and Aims Extensive excision of the esophageal mucosa by endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) frequently evokes a luminal stricture. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a ...high-density collagen patch for the prevention of esophageal stricture in extensive ESD. Methods Six pigs underwent circumferential esophageal ESD under general anesthesia. In 3 pigs, artificial ulcers were covered by 2 collagen patches. The other 3 pigs underwent circumferential ESD only. Results The 2 collagen patches were settled onto the ulcer surface using a general endoscope and instruments. The collagen patch-treated group showed significantly better patency rates on both the oral and anal sides of the wound area compared with the control group at day 14. The mucosal re-epithelization ratio was significantly promoted, and the extent of mucosal inflammation and fibrosis was significantly decreased with the collagen patch treatment in the wound area. The frequency of cells positive α-smooth muscle actin was significantly reduced in the collagen patch-treated group compared with the control group. Conclusions We have established a high-density collagen device that can reduce the esophageal stricture associated with extensive ESD. This easy-to-handle device would be useful during superficial esophageal cancer treatment by ESD.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
We recently developed a collagen vitrigel membrane (CVM) chamber possessing a scaffold composed of high-density collagen fibrils. In this study, we first confirmed that the advantage of CVM chamber ...in comparison to the traditional culture chamber with porous polyethylene terephthalate membrane is to preserve a culture medium poured in its inside even though the under side is not a liquid phase but solid and gas phases. Subsequently, we designed three different culture systems to grow HepG2 cells in a culture medium (liquid phase) on the CVM which the under side is a culture medium, a plastic surface (solid phase) or 5 % CO
2
in air (gas phase) and aimed to develop a brief culture method useful for activating the liver-specific functions and analyzing the pharmacokinetics of fluorescein diacetate. HepG2 cells cultured for 2 days on the liquid–solid interface and subsequently for 1 day on the liquid–gas interface represented excellent cell viability and morphology in comparison to the others, and remarkably improved albumin secretion and urea synthesis to almost the same level of freshly isolated human hepatocytes and CYP3A4 activity to about half the level of differentiated HepaRG cells. Also, the cells rapidly absorbed fluorescein diacetate, distributed it in cytosol, metabolized it into fluorescein, and speedily excreted fluorescein into both bile canaliculus-like networks and extracellular solution. These data suggest that hepatic structure and functions of monolayered HepG2 cells can be induced within a day after the oxygenation from beneath the CVM.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
ABSTRACT
Engineered skin substitutes are widely used in skin wound management. However, no currently available products satisfy all the criteria of usability in emergency situations, easy handling, ...and minimal scar formation. To overcome these shortcomings, we designed a cell‐free bandage‐type artificial skin, named “VitriBand” (VB), using adhesive film dressing, silicone‐coated polyethylene terephthalate film, and collagen xerogel membrane defined as a dried collagen vitrigel membrane without free water. We analyzed its advantages over in‐line products by comparing VB with hydrocolloid dressing and collagen sponge. For evaluation, mice inflicted with full‐thickness skin defects were treated with VB, hydrocolloid dressing, and collagen sponge. A plastic film group treated only with adhesive film dressing and silicone‐coated polyethylene terephthalate film, and a no treatment group were also compared. VB promoted epithelization while inhibiting the emergence of myofibroblasts and inflammation in the regenerating tissue more effectively than the plastic film, hydrocolloid dressing, and collagen sponge products. We have succeeded in establishing a cell‐free bandage‐type artificial skin that could serve as a promising first‐line medical biomaterial for emergency treatment of skin injuries in various medical situations.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Background
Non‐high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (non‐HDL‐C) is now recognized as a strong predictive factor for cardiovascular disease in adults, but there have been few reports on non‐HDL‐C in ...children.
Methods
A total of 5853 4th and 7th grade schoolchildren were included in the screening for lifestyle‐related disease from 2010 to 2011 in Takaoka City. The children underwent anthropometric measurements and non‐fasting blood tests to measure total cholesterol (TC), HDL‐C, triglyceride (TG), and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C). The relationship between percent overweight and each lipid level was analyzed, and children above the 97th percentile level with respect to both TC (220 mg/dL) and non‐HDL‐C (152 mg/dL) were compared and assessed. The relationship between non‐HDL‐C and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was also analyzed among 150 obese children.
Results
Non‐HDL‐C positively correlated with percent overweight and TG rather than did TC (r = 0.273, 0.360 vs 0.118, 0.179, all P < 0.001). In the screening using TC criteria, several subjects with increased HDL‐C were miscategorized as hyperlipidemic, whereas none were miscategorized using the non‐HDL‐C criteria. The sensitivity of the identification of increased LDL‐C was lower when the criteria for TC were used rather than the criteria for non‐HDL‐C (80.8% vs 98.3%). Among obese children, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased significantly and was accompanied by an increase in non‐HDL‐C (P = 0.009).
Conclusion
Instead of TC, non‐HDL‐C would serve as a better and useful cardiovascular risk screening tool for lifestyle‐related disease in school children.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the lifestyles of adolescents and their parents on the levels of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in the adolescents. Methods: A total of 755 ...volunteers (331 male, 424 female) aged 15 to 18 years were included. Abdominal obesity, hypertension, elevated triglyceride levels, decreased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels, and hyperglycemia were considered to be CV risk factors. Self-reported lifestyle, including participation in school-based extracurricular (EC) physical activities, time spent on physical activity or watching television (TV), and average daily food intake were assessed. Parental information on weight status and lifestyle was also obtained. Results: Multivariate regression analyses showed that participation in EC physical activities, time spent watching TV, regular breakfast consumption, total energy intake, fiber intake per 1,000 Kcal, and parental BMI were independently associated with the levels of one or more CV risk factors in adolescents. Among these, participation in EC physical activities had a profound effect on adolescent CV risk factor levels. The risk of male adolescent obesity was associated with paternal obesity, but not with maternal obesity. Conversely, the risk of female adolescent obesity was associated with maternal obesity but not with paternal obesity. Conclusions: Participation in EC physical activities may be the first-line approach for adolescents to maintain favorable CV risk factor levels. An association between paternal or maternal obesity and adolescent obesity differs between adolescent genders in Japan; thus, approaches focusing on parents should take the gender of the adolescent into consideration.
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