The play between bracket slots and archwires affects tooth movement and the transmission of orthodontic force by multi-bracket appliances. We assessed play by quantifying the play behavior of ...three-point brackets and comparing the amount of play that occurred with square and rectangular slots, respectively, by using archwires of various sizes. Horizontal play with the square slot was significantly smaller than that with the rectangular slot. These data demonstrate that brackets with square slots can more effectively bring about tooth movement in the labio-lingual direction and control rotational movement with round and square archwires. Since the horizontal and vertical play ratios for the round and square wires within the square slot were approximately 1.0, three-dimensional tooth movement may also be achieved with uniform play in the vertical and horizontal directions.
The correlation between the degree of sympathetic denervation measured through 123I-MIBG Myocardial Scintigraphy and Power Spectral Analysis of consecutive R-R records was investigated in order to ...evaluate their potential application for the assessment of myocardial autonomic neuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus. This study comprised 42 patients with Type 2 diabetes. Low frequency (0.02-0.09 Hz) components of the power spectral density were measured as markers of sympathetic activity. The myocardial uptake of 123I-MIBG was measured by using the single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and the early and delayed images were recorded. Scoring from 0 to 3 of the 123I-MIBG uptake of various cardiac segments (7) was performed and the total uptake was calculated. The washout rate in the whole myocardium was determined. The values obtained in the group with diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN) without orthostatic hypotension (OH) were significantly lower as compared to those of the (DAN (-)) group in the delayed images. The washout rate of the OH (-) group was also significantly higher than the DAN (-) group. There was significant difference between the images and the washout rate of OH (+) and OH (-) groups. There was a significant correlation between Power Spectral Analysis and SPECT (early, delayed images, and washout rate). Of these, the delayed image showed the strongest correlation (r = 0.55, p < 0.01). Further, the QTc interval showed a significant inverse correlation with the delayed image (r = -0.44, p < 0.05). In conclusion, these results suggest that the cardiac 123I-MIBG scintigraphy could be a useful method for the assessment of the myocardial autonomic neuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Group G Streptococcus strains isolated from patients with severe invasive infections in the period 2002–2008 were surveyed and their prevalence compared with that observed in the period 1995–2001 in ...Japan. Strains with genotypes stg485, stg6792, stc36, stg6, and stg652 were isolated in both periods, whereas various new genotypes appeared in 2002–2008 and some genotypes found in 1995–2001 were not found subsequently, thus indicating a change in the prevalent genotyped strains causing severe invasive streptococcal infections.
Occupational exposure in laboratory workers to various animals can result in clinically significant respiratory allergies. We used clinical and immunological methods to study five laboratory workers ...who exhibited symptoms of nasal allergy upon occupational exposure to guinea pigs. As compared with a control group of ten nonallergic laboratory workers, the symptomatic workers generally had positive skin test reactions for allergens derived from the urine, saliva, and pelts of the guinea pigs. The study group with symptoms also showed high serum levels of specific IgE and demonstrated an immediate, positive reaction to nasal provocation testing with urine-derived antigen. However, specific IgG values in the sera of these patients did not differ significantly from control values. Overall results indicated that a type 1 allergy was involved.
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