A goal of regenerative medicine is to use induced pluripotent stem cells to generate an autologous graft for transplantation. This study tests the feasibility of the approach to treat age-related ...macular degeneration.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most prevalent retinal diseases that threaten vision in older populations in developed countries.
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Neovascular (also called “wet”) AMD is more prevalent than atrophic (or “dry”) AMD in Japan
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and is associated with the ectopic development of a choroidal neovascular membrane in the subretinal space of the center of the retina (the macula). Physical disruption and functional impairment of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a monolayer sheet of cells that supports the overlying photoreceptors and underlying choroidal vasculature, occur in the course of wet AMD.
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Current treatments of AMD that involve the . . .
Objectives
To assess acetaldehyde (ACH) production by bacteria constituting the oral microbiota and the inhibitory effects of sugar alcohols on ACH production.
Materials and Methods
The predominant ...bacterial components of the salivary microbiota of 166 orally healthy subjects were determined by barcoded pyrosequencing analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. Bacterial ACH production from ethanol or glucose was measured using gas chromatography. In addition, inhibition by four sugars and five sugar alcohols of ACH production was assayed.
Results
Forty‐one species from 16 genera were selected as predominant and prevalent bacteria based on the following criteria: identification in ≥95% of the subjects, ≥1% of mean relative abundance or ≥5% of maximum relative abundance. All Neisseria species tested produced conspicuous amounts of ACH from ethanol, as did Rothia mucilaginosa, Streptococcus mitis and Prevotella histicola exhibited the ability to produce ACH. In addition, xylitol and sorbitol inhibited ACH production by Neisseria mucosa by more than 90%.
Conclusions
The oral microbiota of orally healthy subjects comprises considerable amounts of bacteria possessing the ability to produce ACH, an oral carcinogen. Consumption of sugar alcohols may regulate ACH production by oral microbes.
We consider the initial–boundary value problem for the system of equations describing the flow of compressible isothermal mixture of arbitrary large number of components. The system consists of the ...compressible Navier–Stokes equations and a subsystem of diffusion equations for the species. The subsystems are coupled by the form of the pressure and the strong cross-diffusion effects in the diffusion fluxes of the species. Assuming the existence of solutions to the symmetrized and linearized equations, proven in Piasecki, Shibata and Zatorska (2019), we derive the estimates for the nonlinear equations and prove the local-in-time existence and maximal Lp−Lq regularity of solutions.
To compare the effectiveness and safety of antipseudomonal β-lactam empiric monotherapy for febrile neutropenia by network meta-analysis.
Searches using Pubmed, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE and Web of ...Science Core Collection were carried out in June 2016. English articles, non-English articles, full-length articles, short articles and conference abstracts were allowed. Eligible trial design was a parallel-group individual randomization. We included febrile neutropenia adult and paediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy for either solid tumours or haematological malignancies and treated with intravenous antipseudomonal β-lactams for initial empiric therapy. Protocol was registered with PROSPERO ID 42016043377.
Of 1275 articles detected by the search, 50 studies with 10 872 patients were finally included. Among the guideline-recommended cefepime, meropenem, imipenem/cilastatin, piperacillin/tazobactam and ceftazidime; imipenem/cilastatin showed the highest odds of treatment success without modification, which was the primary endpoint, based on the random-effect model network analysis. Ceftazidime was related to lower treatment success rate without modification compared with imipenem/cilastatin with OR of 0.71 (95% CI 0.57–0.89, p 0.006). Imipenem/cilastatin showed the lowest odds of all-cause death. Patients treated with cefepime had higher risk for all-cause death compared with those treated with imipenem/cilastatin (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.11–3.78, p 0.029). Any adverse event was significantly more prevalent in the imipenem/cilastatin arm; however, there was no difference concerning adverse events leading to discontinuation.
Imipenem/cilastatin, piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem may be reasonable first-choice medications for empiric therapy of febrile neutropenia.
Ceramic restorations with resin-based adhesive systems have been the focus of recent attention in clinical dentistry. Yttrium-oxide-partially-stabilized zirconia (YPSZ) ceramics have optimized ...physical properties and exhibit favorable fracture toughness, though their bonding properties are problematic. Although functional phosphate monomers and silica-coating by tribochemical modification were expected to improve the bonding properties between YPSZ ceramics and resin-based adhesives, these two methods remain controversial. This study evaluated the efficiency of silica-coating by tribochemical modification of YPSZ ceramics. The application of phosphate monomer and a silane coupling agent on silica-coated YPSZ was also investigated. The silica-coating of YPSZ ceramics by tribochemical modification was not efficient, given the higher mechanical toughness of the densely sintered ceramics. Stable shear bond strength was achieved on silica-coated YPSZ ceramics with the cooperative interaction of phosphate monomer and silane coupling.
Although they are known to share pathophysiological processes, the relationship between periodontitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not fully understood. The aim of the present ...study was to test the hypothesis that periodontitis is associated with a greater risk of development of COPD, when smoking is taken into account. The analysis in a 5-y follow-up population-based cohort study was based on 900 community-dwelling Japanese adults (age: 68.8 ± 6.3 mean ± SD, 46.0% male) without COPD aged 60 or older with at least 1 tooth. Participants were classified into 3 categories according to baseline periodontitis severity (no/mild, moderate, and severe). COPD was spirometrically determined by a fixed ratio of <0.7 for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) and by FEV1/FVC below the lower limit of normal. Poisson regression was used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of developing COPD according to the severity of periodontitis. The population attributable fraction (PAF) was also calculated. During follow-up, 22 (2.4%) subjects developed COPD. Compared with no/mild periodontitis subjects, a significantly increased risk of COPD occurred among severe periodontitis subjects (RR = 3.55; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.18 to 10.67), but no significant differences were observed between the no/mild and moderate categories (RR = 1.48; 95% CI, 0.56 to 3.90). After adjustment for potential confounders, including smoking intensity, the relationship between severe periodontitis and risk of COPD remained significant (RR = 3.51; 95% CI, 1.15 to 10.74). Likewise, there was a positive association of periodontitis severity with risk of COPD (P for trend = 0.043). The PAF for COPD due to periodontitis was 22.6%. These data highlight the potential importance of periodontitis as a risk factor for COPD.