Polyamidoamine dendrimers having poly(ethylene glycol) grafts were designed as a novel drug carrier which possesses an interior for the encapsulation of drugs and a biocompatible surface. ...Poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether with the average molecular weight of 550 or 2000 was combined to essentially every chain end of the dendrimer of the third or fourth generation via urethane bond. The poly(ethylene glycol)-attached dendrimers encapsulating anticancer drugs, adriamycin and methotrexate, were prepared by extraction with chloroform from mixtures of the poly(ethylene glycol)-attached dendrimers and varying amounts of the drugs. Their ability to encapsulate these drugs increased with increasing dendrimer generation and chain length of poly(ethylene glycol) grafts. Among the poly(ethylene glycol)-attached dendrimers prepared, the highest ability was achieved by the dendrimer of the fourth generation having the poly(ethylene glycol) grafts with the average molecular weight of 2000, which could retain 6.5 adriamycin molecules or 26 methotrexate molecules/dendrimer molecule. The methotrexate-loaded poly(ethylene glycol)-attached dendrimers released the drug slowly in an aqueous solution of low ionic strength. However, in isotonic solutions, methotrexate and adriamycin were readily released from the poly(ethylene glycol)-attached dendrimers.
Abstract Background and Aims Little evidence showed the association between dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease among Japanese. The objective of this study was to examine whether dietary ...patterns are associated with cardiovascular disease among middle-aged Japanese. Methods and Results At baseline (1988–1990), 26,598 men and 37,439 women aged 40–79 years enrolled in the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study. During the follow-up through 2003, 578 men and 499 women died from stroke, and 272 men and 207 women died from coronary heart disease. We identified three major dietary patterns, ‘vegetable’, ‘animal food’ and ‘dairy product’, by factor analysis for both sexes. The multivariable hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals of mortality from total cardiovascular disease in the highest versus lowest quintiles of the vegetable pattern were 0.93 (0.78–1.13), p for trend = 0.73 for men and 0.82 (0.67–1.00), p for trend = 0.04 for women. The respective HRs of mortality from stroke in the highest versus lowest quintiles of the dairy product pattern were 0.65 (0.49–0.86), p for trend = 0.01 for men and 0.70 (0.51–0.97), p for trend = 0.02 for women, and those of total cardiovascular disease were 0.89 (0.74–1.08), p for trend = 0.23 for men and 0.76 (0.61–0.94), p for trend = 0.01 for women. The animal food pattern was not associated with mortality from stroke, coronary heart disease or total cardiovascular disease for either sex. Conclusion We found that ‘vegetable’ and ‘dairy product’ patterns were associated with lower morality from cardiovascular disease, while the ‘animal food’ pattern was not associated with mortality from cardiovascular disease among Japanese.
Background and Objective
Salivary lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was reported to be a useful parameter for the screening of periodontal disease. We performed a cross‐sectional study to verify the ...usefulness of salivary LDH as a biomarker of periodontitis and to investigate the association of severity of periodontitis with systemic inflammation by measuring salivary LDH and serum high sensitive C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP) levels in a community‐based middle‐aged and elderly population in Japan.
Material and Methods
We recruited 644 men and 1171 women, aged 30‐79 years, who participated in the Toon Health Study during 2011–15. Periodontal condition was assessed by full‐mouth examination including mean value of probing depth, percentage of probing depth of ≥4 mm and ≥6 mm, and bleeding on probing. Saliva and blood serum samples were collected for measurement of salivary LDH level and hs‐CRP, respectively. A linear trend across quartiles of salivary LDH was calculated using linear regression. Interaction of salivary LDH and overweight status (body mass index of ≥25 kg/m2) was tested using the cross‐product term of log‐transformed continuous salivary LDH and overweight status.
Results
Analysis of covariance adjusted for potential confounders revealed strong associations between salivary LDH level and the indicators of periodontal condition (P < .01) in both men and women. Sex‐ and age‐adjusted mean values of hs‐CRP according to salivary LDH quartiles were 0.40, 0.45, 0.45 and 0.50 mg/L (P for trend <.01). Although the association was attenuated after further adjustment for body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, alcohol intake, smoking status and physical activity. When stratified by overweight status, the association remained significant in overweight individuals (P = .03). The multivariable adjusted odds ratio of hs‐CRP level of ≥1 mg/L for the highest vs lowest quartile of salivary LDH was 1.93 (95% CI, 1.01‐3.69) in overweight individuals, but not significant in non‐overweight individuals.
Conclusion
Salivary LDH appears to be a promising biomarker for the mass screening of periodontitis in local community health settings. High salivary LDH levels, particularly in overweight individuals might contribute to prevention of cardiovascular disease, through measuring systemic inflammatory burdens as well as traditional cardiovascular risk factors.
The creep deformation resistance and rupture life of high Cr ferritic steel with a tempered martensitic lath structure are critically reviewed on the basis of experimental data. Special attention is ...directed to the following three subjects: creep mechanism of the ferritic steel, its alloy design for further strengthening, and loss of its creep rupture strength after long-term use. The high Cr ferritic steel is characterized by its fine subgrain structure with a high density of free dislocations within the subgrains. The dislocation substructure is the most densely distributed obstacle to dislocation motion in the steel. Its recovery controls creep rate and rupture life at elevated temperatures. Improvement of creep strength of the steel requires a fine subgrain structure with a high density of free dislocations. A sufficient number of pinning particles (MX particles in subgrain interior and M23C6 particles on sub-boundaries) are necessary to cancel a large driving force for recovery due to the high dislocation density. Coarsening and agglomeration of the pinning particles have to be delayed by an appropriate alloy design of the steel. Creep rupture strength of the high Cr ferritic steel decreases quickly after long-term use. A significant improvement of creep rupture strength can be achieved if we can prevent the loss of rupture strength. In the steel tempered at high temperature, enhanced recovery of the subgrain structure along grain boundaries is the cause of the premature failure and the consequent loss of rupture strength. However, the scenario is not always applicable. Further studies are needed to solve this important problem of high Cr ferritic steel. MX particles are necessary to retain a fine subgrain structure and to achieve the excellent creep strength of the high Cr ferritic steel. Strengthening mechanism of the MX particles is another important problem left unsolved.
Abstract
To address the problem of global warming, increasing efforts are being made to use renewable sources of energy, such as solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy. However, the ...effective use remains a major challenge for its sustainable development. In this study, we used a top-heat-type thermosyphon to heat water using solar energy and transport the low-density hot water from the source to the sink (high to low elevation) without an external power source. The transported hot water can be used for cooking, bathing, underfloor heating, and heating homes and buildings, and warming cold springs. However, a disadvantage of top-heat-type thermosyphon is the intermittent flow of the circulating working fluid under low solar radiation. To address this issue, the authors proposed and developed a control system to stabilize the intermittent flow and prevent equipment damage and failure due to the sudden boiling of water. Field experiments were conducted to assess the practicability of the developed controller. The results showed that the controller efficiently converted the intermittent flow of working fluid to continuous flow by reducing the pressure in the buffer chamber and thus lowering the boiling point of the working fluid in the header of the solar collector.
Japan has a huge number of patients with gastric cancer and has developed various surgical treatments for this disease.This paper intends to introduce our strategies against gastric cancer. The ...Japanese Gastric Cancer Association was established in 1962. Its major purposes are promotion of basic and clinical researches and popularization of the latest knowledge and technologies. For the purposes, the association organized the annual scientific meeting and the nationwide registry by member hospitals, and published the Japanese Classification of Gastric Cancer (1) and the Treatment Guide Line (2). The nationwide registry reported that proportion of Stage-I cancer was 22.5% in 1963-66,which increased to 59.3% in 2008 (3,4,5). 11,261 patients with gastric resection were registered by 187 hospitals in 2008. 63 patients were died within 30 postoperative days and the direct death rate was 0.55%. 5 year survival rate (5YSR) was 37.5% for resected cases in 1963-66, which was improved to 70.1% in 2008. 5YSR was improved from 55.1% to 74.1% for Stage-II, and from 39.1% to 48.8% for Stage-III in the period. According to remarkable increase of early stage cancer, principle of surgical treatments was shifted from "extended and standardized surgery for radicality" to "reasonable and individual surgery considering safety and quality of life". This trend produced a large variation in surgical treatments; namely 1) minimally invasive surgeries,2) function preserving surgeries, 3) optimal extent of lymph node dissection, and 4) aggressive but safe surgeries.Intention of this paper is to explain these procedures, the intentions, the indications, and the treatment results.
Global anthropogenic changes cause major impacts on species interactions, with cascading effects on ecosystem functioning. Animal-mediated pollination and seed dispersal are major mutualisms ...associated with distinct stages of plant reproduction. Nevertheless, we lack an integrated assessment on how multiple anthropogenic impacts affect these interrelated mutualisms. Here, we systematically reviewed the effect of the most important global anthropogenic factors (agrochemicals, climate change, fire, fragmentation, hunting, non-native species and urbanization) on pollination and seed dispersal. We evaluated which anthropogenic factors, mutualisms and their combinations have been more frequently investigated, the biogeographic and taxonomic tendencies and the most frequently recorded effects of anthropogenic factors. We show that pollination has been more broadly investigated, that the impacts of the anthropogenic factors on pollination and seed dispersal are biased towards the temperate region and forest biomes and lack representation from some relevant groups, such as mutualistic bats. Moreover, some anthropogenic factors have been more studied for one mutualism type in relation to the other, for instance, agrochemicals and urbanization on plant-pollinator interactions, even though these impacts could also generate direct and cascading effects on frugivores and seed dispersal. The predominance of negative effects observed, especially of climate change on plant-pollinator and non-native species on plant-frugivore interactions deserve special attention. Finally, we identify a gap in empirical studies that simultaneously consider pollination and seed dispersal as integrated components of plant reproduction, and combined anthropogenic factors in the same ecosystem. More integrative studies are needed to better understand the vulnerability of plant-animal mutualisms in a changing world.
•Plant-pollinator mutualism is more studied than plant-frugivore mutualism.•Studies with bats as mutualistic partners are scarce.•Negative effects of anthropogenic factors on both mutualisms are predominant.•Climate change impacts mostly on pollination and non-native species on seed dispersal.•More integrative studies considering multiple anthropogenic factors are recommended.
CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Tr) cells are critical in regulating the immune response and thereby play an important role in the defense against infection and control of autoimmune diseases. Our previous ...studies demonstrated the involvement of autoimmune responses in periodontitis. The aim of this study was to identify CD4+CD25+ Tr cells in periodontitis tissues and compare them with those in gingivitis tissues. Immunohistological analysis of CD4, CD25, and CTLA-4 and the gene expression analysis of FOXP3, TGF-β1, and IL-10 on gingival biopsies revealed the presence of CD4+CD25+ Tr cells in all tissues. In periodontitis, the percentage of CD4+CD25+ Tr cells increased with increasing proportions of B-cells relative to T-cells. FOXP3, a characteristic marker for CD4+CD25+ Tr cells, TGF-β1 and IL-10 were expressed more highly in periodontitis compared with gingivitis. These findings suggest that CD4+CD25+ Tr cells and possibly other regulatory T-cell populations do exist and may play regulatory roles in periodontal diseases.
PDF
