Multifunctional Hydrophobized Microparticles for Accelerated Wound Healing after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) provides strong therapeutic benefits for early gastrointestinal cancer as a minimally invasive treatment. However, there is currently no reliable treatment to prevent scar contracture resulting from ESD which may lead to cicatricial stricture. Herein, a multifunctional colloidal wound dressing to promote tissue regeneration after ESD is demonstrated. This sprayable wound dressing, composed of hydrophobized microparticles, exhibits the multifunctionality necessary for wound healing including tissue adhesiveness, blood coagulation, re‐epithelialization, angiogenesis, and controlled inflammation based on hydrophobic interaction with biological systems. An in vivo feasibility study using swine gastric ESD models reveals that this colloidal wound dressing suppresses fibrosis and accelerates wound healing. Multifunctional colloidal and sprayable wound dressings have an enormous therapeutic potential for use in a wide range of biomedical applications including accelerated wound healing after ESD, prevention of perforation, and the treatment of inflammatory diseases.     

Modification of cleanup methods for dioxin analysis in green leafy vegetables and comparison of packing methods for a multi-layer silica gel column

To determine polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) in green leafy vegetables, the cleanup method was modified, and packing methods for a multi-layer silica gel column were compared in food samples. First, the additional cleanup was examined for a mono-ortho PCBs fraction obtained by alumina column chromatography from spinach extract. Small solids such as rough crystals that remained after concentration of the mono-ortho PCBs fraction were identified as long-chain hydrocarbons from leaf epicuticular wax by GC/MS. Cleanup using an activated carbon silica gel column with n-hexane as the washing solvent was effective. Next, multi-layer silica gel columns packed by wet packing and dry packing were compared using komatsuna, salmon and butter as samples. The columns prepared by both methods gave similar values at each isomeric concentration level and showed similar efficiency with favorable recoveries.     

Phase-transition temperatures and piezoelectric properties of (Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3-(Bi1/2Li1/2)TiO3-(Bi1/2K1/2)TiO3 lead-free ferroelectric ceramics.

The phase-transition temperatures and piezoelectric properties of x(Bi(1/2)Na(1/2))TiO3-y(Bi(1/2)Li(1/2))TiO3-z(Bi(1/2)K(1/2))TiO3 [x + y + z = 1] (abbreviated as BNLKT100(y)-100(z)) ceramics were investigated. These ceramics were prepared using a conventional ceramic fabrication process. The phase-transition temperatures such as depolarization temperatures T(d), rhombohedraltetragonal phase transition temperature T(R-T), and dielectric-maximum temperature T(m) were determined using electrical measurements such as dielectric and piezoelectric properties. The X-ray powder diffraction patterns of BNLKT100(y)-100(z)) show the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between rhombohedral and tetragonal at approximately z = 0.20, and the piezoelectric properties show the maximum at the MPB. The electromechanical coupling factor k(33), piezoelectric constant d(33) and T(d) of BNLKT4-20 and BNLKT8-20 were 0.603, 176 pC/N, and 171 degrees C, and 0.590, 190 pC/N, and 115 degrees C, respectively. In addition, the relationship between d33 and Td of tetragonal side and rhombohedral side for BNLKT4-100z and BNLKT8-100z were presented. Considering both high Td and high d(33), the tetragonal side of BNLKT4-100z is thought to be the superior composition. The d(33) and T(d) of BNLKT4-28 were 135 pC/N and 218 degrees C, respectively. Moreover, this study revealed that the variation of T(d) is related to the variation of lattice distortion such as rhombohedrality 90-alpha and tetragonality c/a.     

Perfluorinated surfactants in surface, subsurface water and microlayer from Dalian Coastal waters in China

Two predominant perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), in surface water (SW, 0-20 cm), subsurface water (SSW, > 30 cm depth), and sea surface microlayer (SML, 50 microm thickness) were measured from Dalian Coastal waters in China. The SML samples were collected using glass-plate dipping method. Analysis of the PFCs was conducted through solid-phase extraction, followed by LC/MS-SIM. The PFC's concentrations in SW samples were consistent with previously reported data in this region. Significantly higher concentrations of PFCs were found in SML samples than corresponding SSW samples. The enrichment factors (EF = C(SML)/C(SSW)) for PFOS were as high as 24-109 atthree near-shore sites. The concentration in SW was also generally higher than corresponding SSW samples, giving C(SW)/C(SSW) mean ratios of 1.5 and 1.4 for PFOS and PFOA, respectively. This apparent enrichment of PFCs in surface water, especially in the microlayer, has implications for designing measurement techniques, understanding their distributions, and sea spray-mediated transport in the environment.     

Antioxidant flavonoid glycosides from the leaves of Ficus pumila L.

The Okinawan folks in Japan use Ficus pumila L. as a beverage or herbal medicine to treat diabetes and high blood pressure. Four flavonoid glycosides were isolated and identified as rutin (1 and 3), apigenin 6-neohesperidose (2), kaempferol 3-robinobioside (4) and kaempferol 3-rutinoside (5). Among these compounds, rutin exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity in DPPH radical scavenging assay and superoxide radical inhibition assay. The preparation of Ooitabi leaves in water provide sufficient amount of flavonoid glycosides to the Okinawan although 50% of aqueous ethanol extracted these flavonoid glycosides more effectively. These results show the potential of Ooitabi leaves as a natural source of antioxidant for health management.     

Visualization of the information flow through human oculomotor cortical regions by transcranial magnetic stimulation

We investigated the topography of human cortical activation during an antisaccade task by focal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We used a figure-eight shaped coil, with the stimulus intensity set just above the threshold for activation of the hand motor areas but weak enough not to elicit blinks. TMS was delivered at various time intervals (80, 100, and 120 ms) after target presentation over various sites on the scalp while the subjects performed the antisaccade task. It was possible to elicit a mild but significant delay in saccade onset over 1) the frontal regions (a region 2-4 cm anterior and 2-4 cm lateral to hand motor area) and 2) posterior parietal regions (6-8 cm posterior and 0-4 cm lateral to hand motor area) regardless of which hemisphere was stimulated. The frontal regions were assumed to correspond to a cortical region including the frontal eye fields (FEFs), whereas the parietal regions were assumed to represent a wide region that includes the posterior parietal cortices (PPCs). The regions inducing the delay shifted from the posterior parietal regions at an earlier interval (80 ms) to the frontal regions at a later interval (100 ms), which suggested an information flow from posterior to anterior cortical regions during the presaccadic period. At 120 ms, the effect of TMS over the frontal regions still persisted but was greatly diminished. Erroneous prosaccades to the presented target were elicited over a wide cortical region including the frontal and posterior parietal regions, which again showed a forward shift with time. However, the distribution of effective regions exhibited a clear contralateral predominance in terms of saccade direction. Our technique provides a useful method not only for detecting the topography of cortical regions active during saccadic eye movement, but also for constructing a physiological map to visualize the temporal evolution of functional activities in the relevant cortical regions.     

Polymorphisms of dopamine receptor and transporter genes and Parkinson's disease

Disturbances of the dopamine system are involved in the pathogenesis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Although genetic factors may play a role in the etiology of PD, there is little direct evidence implicating a specific gene. We conducted a study to test the hypothesis that allelic variations of the dopamine receptors (D2, D3, D4) and the dopamine transporter (DAT) contribute to the susceptibility to PD. Association analyses of 70 Japanese PD patients and the same number of age-matched controls did not reveal any association between alleles of the D2, D3 or D4 receptor genes or the DAT gene and PD. Thus, our results suggest that factor(s) other than allelic variations of these key proteins in the dopamine system contribute to the susceptibility to PD.     

Nigrofrontal dopaminergic function as assessed by 18F-dopa PET

The existence of the nigrofrontal dopaminergic pathway has been demonstrated in neuroanatomical studies. We evaluated the presynaptic nigrofrontal dopaminergic function using 18F-dopa (FD) positron emission tomography (PET). The multiple time PET data in the frontal cortex from 20 to 70 min post-injection for FD were evaluated by Patlak analysis using the cerebellar time-activity curve as an input function. The frontal FD uptake rate constants could not be determined in 5 of 12 normal volunteers because of large deviations in the plots. There were no significant differences between the subjects among whom the frontal FD uptake rate constants could or could not be determined regarding the amount of FD injected, the frontal 18F counts, or whether or not they were pretreated with carbidopa. The uptake constants were determined in 9 or 12 patients with parkinsonian syndrome. While the mean (+/- S.D.) uptake constants in patients with Parkinson's disease (2.89 +/- 0.06 x 10(-3), n = 4) and in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (2.81 +/- 0.10 x 10(-3), n = 3) were not significantly different from those in the normal volunteers (2.93 +/- 0.14 x 10(-3)), those in two patients with corticobasal degeneration (2.42 and 2.46, respectively) decreased in comparison to the control values. Differences in the nigrofrontal presynaptic dopaminergic function as assessed by FD-PET may explain the different pathogenesis and also help to differentiate between corticobasal degeneration and other parkinsonian syndromes, such as Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy.