In recent years, endoscope-assisted balloon fixation using transantral and endonasal approaches has gained popularity as a minimally invasive treatment for orbital floor fractures. However, the ...optimal duration for balloon placement and the efficacy of the method have not been fully evaluated. The authors report their assessment of this method using postoperative and chronological measurements of the maxillary sinus volume.Fourteen patients with blowout fracture of the orbital floor who underwent reduction using endoscopic transantral and endonasal approaches followed by 6-week fixation with a balloon were evaluated. The volume of the maxillary sinus was measured for comparison using computed tomography at the time of balloon removal and 6 months after the surgery.The ratio of change in the maxillary sinus volume (maxillary sinus volume 6 months after surgery/maxillary sinus volume at balloon removal) for all subjects was 0.90 to 1.04 (0.96 ± 0.44, mean ± SD). No postoperative reduction in volume was detected, indicating satisfactory fixation. Postoperative computed tomography showed bone regeneration in the orbital floor in all patients in whom the fractured bone fragments were removed. No subjects had remaining enophthalmos greater than 2 mm.The postoperative change in the maxillary sinus volume was small, confirming the efficacy of 6-week balloon placement. This method was effective even in patients in whom fractured bone fragments were removed. Therefore, it is advisable to remove the fractured bone fragments if there is concern that the fragments will stray into the orbit due to inflation of the balloon.
The inclusion of two different guest molecules in a macrocyclic boronic ester in organic solvent utilizing only π‐stacking interactions has been successfully realized. For this purpose, a new tetrol ...which has an appropriate distance between two 1,2‐diol units for the inclusion of two aromatic molecules is designed and synthesized. Simple mixing of the new tetrol with 2,7‐pyrenediboronic acid in the presence of pyrene‐4,5‐quinone efficiently affords the desired macrocyclic boronic ester, which is found by 1H NMR spectroscopy, ESI‐MS, and isothermal titration calorimetry studies to include one molecule each of a dinitronaphthalimide derivative and pyrene. Furthermore, inclusion of two planar molecules within the macrocyclic boronic ester is revealed by X‐ray analysis.
The host with the most: The inclusion of two different neutral guest molecules in a macrocyclic boronic ester host is realized in organic solvent utilizing only π‐stacking interactions. The host syn‐1 is constructed from a newly designed fluorene tetrol and 2,7‐pyrenediboronic acid and is shown to include one molecule each of dinitronaphthalimide and pyrene as a pair of electron‐deficient and electron‐rich aromatic molecules.
This study reports a novel method for assessment of leukocyte rheological activation with a new designed microchannel array chip to mimic the human microvascular network for microchannel array flow ...analysis (MCFAN). Study subjects were 79 healthy volunteers and 42 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and 36 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Using the anticoagulants heparin and ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-2Na which inhibits platelets and leukocytes by chelating Ca
2+
, we were able to quantify leukocyte rheological activation by the subtraction of passage time of blood treated with both heparin and EDTA-2Na from that of blood treated with heparin only. We confirmed that passage times of whole blood with heparin + EDTA-2Na were always shorter than those of whole blood with only heparin in healthy subjects and patients with DM or ACS under suction pressures of − 30 cmH
2
O. There was a significant correlation between delta whole blood passage time {(heparin tube) − (EDTA-2Na + heparin)} and serum levels of myeloperoxidase and adhesive leukocyte number, respectively, even in blood from patients with DM or ACS, who suffered from inflammation. In conclusion we have developed a clinically feasible method for assessing leukocyte rheological activation in whole blood in ex vivo.
We developed a unique monoclonal antibody, mAb61A5, using the nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8) strain. Truncation and alanine substitution experiments showed that ...mAb61A5 recognized the NP fragment with residues 17 to 123 in which a conformational epitope formed by the β1 sheet and the linker region between the α1 and α2 helices. Variations in the epitope or nearby can partly account for the poor mAb61A5 reactivity with the NP of A/Aichi/2/68 or A/duck/Pennsylvania/10128/84 strains. Interestingly, immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that mAb61A5 preferentially interacted with viral ribonucleoprotein complexes, composed of RNA polymerase, negative/positive sense RNA and NP, rather than exogenously added NP. Immunofluorescence microscopy using mAb61A5 showed a punctate staining in the cytoplasm during the late phase of infection. The punctate NPs accumulated at the microtubule organizing center and co-localized with microtubules. The treatment with leptomycin B to block a CRM1-dependent nuclear export failed to produce the punctate NP. The treatment with nocodazole, a microtubule-depolymerizing agent, showed random distribution of the punctate NP in the cytoplasm. These results suggest that microtubule networks, although were not required for the formation of punctate structures, were responsible for the polarized distribution of the punctate NP antigens, most likely viral progeny ribonucleoprotein complexes.
The Nuss method has become the standard surgery for the treatment of funnel chest, and good therapeutic results have been reported. Among the complications of the Nuss method, displacement of the bar ...is the most frequent, and there are cases in which reoperation is necessary. In this case report, we have devised a new stabilizer that connects and fixes two bars as bar displacement occurred following each of the two prior Nuss procedures, and the outcome of our procedure was evaluated.
A novel emulsification method was developed for making monodispersed regular‐sized cells. Both oil in water (O/W) and water in oil (W/O) emulsion cells were generated by permeating an internal phase ...into a continuous phase through a silicon microchannel, which was designed and prepared by using semiconductor technology. The microprocessing of O/W (or W/O) emulsion cells was monitored and controlled with a microscope video system. Regular‐sized O/W cells were made by a normal hydrophilic microchannel and a glass plate with use of an appropriate surfactant. On the other hand, W/O emulsion cells were made by a hydrophobic microchannel and a glass plate modified with a silane coupler reagent. Regular‐sized W/O cells were also obtained; therefore, a suitable combination of organic phase, surfactant, and electrolyte should be carefully selected. There is a possibility for creating artificial biological cells with this method. In the water/triolein and lecithin system, when the amount of oil was decreased on the permeate side, polygon or fiber cell types were created, and each cell contacted its neighbors across a thin oil layer like a biological tissue.
A 76-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of anemia. The laboratory findings revealed hemolysis. Although a direct Coombs test was negative, a high titer of RBC-bound IgG was detected, ...and a diagnosis of Coombs-negative autoimmune hemolytic anemia was made. She was successfully treated with prednisolone. One year and five months later, she again presented anemia and was diagnosed with pure red cell aplasia. Anti-erythropoietin receptor antibody was detected in the serum. She was treated with cyclosporine and obtained prompt recovery. We herein report this rare case and review the pertinent literature.
Abstract Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered to be a promising platform for cell and gene therapy for a variety of diseases. First, in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, ...there are two applications of MSCs: 1) the improvement of stem cell engrafting and the acceleration of hematopoietic reconstitution based on the hematopoiesis-supporting ability; and 2) the treatment of severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) based on the immunomodulatory ability. Regarding the immunosuppressive ability, we found that nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the MSC-mediated suppression of T cell proliferation. Second, tumor-bearing nude mice were injected with luciferase-expressing MSCs. An in vivo imaging analysis showed the significant accumulation of the MSCs at the site of tumors. The findings suggest that MSCs can be utilized to target metastatic tumors and to deliver anti-cancer molecules locally. As the third application, MSCs may be utilized as a cellular vehicle for protein-supplement gene therapy. When long-term transgene expression is needed, a therapeutic gene should be introduced with a minimal risk of insertional mutagenesis. To this end, site-specific integration into the AAVS1 locus on the chromosome 19 (19q13.4) by using the integration machinery of adeno-associated virus (AAV) would be particularly valuable. There will be wide-ranging applications of MSCs to frontier medical treatments in the near future.
Monodisperse emulsions are of great significance in both scientific and industrial fields, since they have advantages such as their better stability and simplified physical properties. A novel ...micromachined emulsification device has been developed for monodisperse emulsion droplets. It has uniformly sized through‐holes, called straightthrough microchannel (MC), on a silicon microchip. An oblong straightthrough MC successfully yielded monodisperse oil‐in‐water (O/W) emulsion droplets with an average droplet diameter of 32.5 μm and a coefficient of variation below 2% by forcing the dispersed phase into the continuous phase through the straightthrough MC. On the other hand, a circular straightthrough MC yielded polydisperse emulsion droplets. Straightthrough MC emulsification revealed that an elongated cross‐sectional shape in the oblong straightthrough MC contributes significantly to the spontaneous formation of monodisperse emulsion droplets without any turbulent mixing.
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