Oral sensorimotor function is essential for mastication. We hypothesized that palatal coverage would disturb mastication and sensorimotor function. Masticatory efficiency, which was expressed by the declination rate of particle size, and oral stereognosis ability (OSA) were measured for 20 dentate subjects. Both measurements were first performed without an experimental palatal plate. These measurements were then repeated with the plate on the day of the plate insertion, then again on the 3rd and 7th day. After 2 months, another series of measurements for the OSA test were performed without the plate with the same timecourse. Masticatory efficiency significantly decreased with the plate. OSA score, which continuously increased during the experimental period, showed no difference between with and without the plate. Positive correlation between masticatory efficiency and the OSA score was found only without the plate. It was suggested that coordination between mastication and the sensorimotor function was disturbed by palatal coverage.

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Purpose: The Videofluorographic Swallowing Study (VFSS) has become the routine method for assessing swallowing dysfunction and accordingly, much research has been conducted on this procedure. However, due to a lack of standardization of the method of analysis of VFSS, it is often difficult to compare the results of such studies. Therefore, we conducted a comparative study of VFSS’s spatial measurement using different standard planes used in the past study and Camper’s plane and examined which plane was the most preferable. Method: VFSS was performed on 20 healthy young volunteers (26.9±3 years) and 9 healthy elderly (77.3±3 years). Each subject swallowed 4ml of thin liquid barium. We measured hyoid displacement and opening of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) by using four different standard planes. Results: In the young group, the correlation between anterior hyoid displacement and UES opening was significant in all standard planes. In the elderly group, the correlation between anterior hyoid displacement and UES opening was significant only in Camper’s plane. Moreover, this plane is hard to be affected by morphological change as ageing. Conclusions: Camper’s plane was found to be as the most preferable plane for analyzing swallowing function.

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Along with continued efforts to improve data quality in clinical trials, it is imperative to make critical assessments about the recognition, traceability, and validation of the data on final outputs of clinical trials. The present study investigated protocols in 36 clinical trials and case report forms (CRFs) for 141 patients. CRFs were categorized as Book Type (BT), Visit Type (VT), and Separate binding Type (ST). The achievement of recognition, traceability, and validation of the data in CRFs was assessed using arbitrary grading scales. There were significant differences between the VT and BT conditions in terms of traceability and validation 1 (the integrity of clinical laboratory test data). No significant differences were observed among the three types of CRFs in terms of recognition and validation 2 (verification of test drug compliance). These findings indicate that the traceability and the integrity of clinical laboratory test data depend on the structure of the CRFs used, whereas recognition and verification of test drug compliance were more matters of protocol design. Therefore, of the three CRFs, the VT CRF is considered to be the best choice of format for collecting clinical trial data as it maximizes the quality of clinical trials until electronic document systems are adopted.

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Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the oral health status of migrants to Japan with that of Japanese using the questionnaire and the Oral Health Status Index (OHSI). Methods: The questionnaire for collecting demographic and behavioral variables and the OHSI were applied in a mixed migrant/Japanese sample of patients from a dental clinic in Yokohama. A sample of 224 subjects, 52% of whom were migrants, was selected from new patients. Results: The mean OHSI scores were 78.56 for migrants and 83.16 for Japanese (p<0.01). Multiple regression analysis of OHSI showed that the statistically significant contributors were: age, status (migrants / Japanese), reason for initial visit, perceived oral health, and flossing behavior. Conclusion: The oral health status of migrants was worse than that of Japanese even though they were younger than Japanese. The present public support system for foreign patients and their self-care behavior were considered to be the factors for the inequity in oral health status.

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Objectives: To evaluate the utility of our newly devised method (incremental stand-up exerciseload) to determine features of general endurance in hemiplegic patients. Subjects/Patients: Participants were 15 healthy adults and 15 hemiplegics, with 13 men and 2 women in each group.Methods: To evaluate endurance, the subjects were required to assume a sitting position on a bed for 3 minutes and thereafter repeat standing-sitting (SS) movements. Successively increasing loads were imposed by increasing the frequency of repetition of the SS movements. An expired gas analyzer measured the magnitude of general endurance. Results were compared between the two groups using the anaerobic threshold (AT) as an indicator. Results: The AT value was determinable in 80% of subjects in both groups. The AT values in hemiplegics (10.4±2.0 ml/min/kg) were significantly (p<0.01) less than those (17.3±3.0 ml/min/kg) in controls. Time of imposition of the load in hemiplegics (11 min 7 s±13 min 45 s) were significantly (p<0.01) less than those (27 min 0 s± 7 min 36 s) in controls. Conclusion: This newly devised method that does not require special equipment is suitable to examine general endurance in hemiplegic patients.

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To investigate the origin and postnatal changes of mouse mandibular angular cartilage, in situ hybridization for cartilaginous marker proteins, histochemistry for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), and bromodeoxyuridine (BrDU) analyses were performed. Chondrocytes of the mandibular angular cartilage were derived from ALP-positive progenitor cells and first detected at embryonic day (E) 15.5. Newly formed chondrocytes rapidly differentiated into hypertrophic chondrocytes and hypertrophic cell zone rapidly extended in subsequent a few days. During this period, bone sialoprotein mRNA was more widely expressed than osteopontin mRNA in cartilage. Endochondral bone formation started at E 17.5 with the resorption of the bone collar by osteoclasts. These characteristics were consistent with those of the condylar cartilage, although developmental process was 0.5-1.5 day delayed relative to the condylar cartilage. During the postnatal period, contrast to the condylar cartilage, the angular cartilage constantly decreased in volume with advancing age. Reduction of proliferating activity estimated by BrDU incorporation accounts for this phenomenon. We demonstrate new structural features of the mandibular angular cartilage that may contribute to a coming research for the secondary cartilage.

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The purpose of this study was to objectively evaluate the fit of sockets for trans-tibial stumps in order to establish a guideline for use in the automated production of prosthetic sockets. Subjects were 24 trans-tibial amputees. Using a CAD/CAM system, 11 parameters regarding the 3D shape of the stumps and the sockets were objectively evaluated. A correlation was found between the activity level and the upper and lower volumes of the socket, and between the cause of amputation and the upper volume of the socket. It was considered desirable to make the lower part of the socket looser for patients with lower activity levels, to make the upper part tighter for patients with higher activity levels, and to make the upper part looser for amputation patients with peripheral circulatory diseases.

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We studied factors that control chemoresistance to 6 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines carrying p53 mutations. Cell lines were chosen, based on the presence of EGFR amplifications, the presence of H-ras mutations, and the absence of either. WST-1 viability assays showed that, in response to etoposide, Ca922 was most sensitive, HOC313 most resistant, and HSC6 and the others moderately sensitive. A similar tendency was shown by further analyses with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, LY294002, and combined treatment with LY294002 and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Although both Ca922 and HOC313 had activating mutations upstream of Akt signaling, the constitutive phosphorylation of Akt at S473 was observed in chemosensitive Ca922, but not in chemoresistant HOC313, suggesting that constitutive Akt phosphorylation was not the primary determinant for chemoresistance in these cell lines. Further, by the combined treatment with LY294002 and TRAIL, apoptosis was induced in Ca922 and HSC6 but not in HOC313. Interestingly, caspase 8 was not detected in HOC313, while it was cleaved in the other 2 cell lines. Further, in Ca922 and HSC6 but not in HOC313, caspase 8 inhibitor restored loss of viability induced either with LY294002 and TRAIL or even with etoposide alone. These findings suggest that caspase 8 played an important role in chemoresistance against genotoxic drugs.

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The importance of masticatory muscle function on the growth and differentiation of condyle was examined. The aim of this study was to investigate how reduced masticatory muscle function influences intrinsic regulatory factors which govern growth and differentiation of condylar cartilage. Masseter muscles of 3-week-old Wistar rats were resected bilaterally. Masseteric resected animals and corresponding control animals were sacrificed at 3, 6, 12 and 21 days post-resection. The condyles were then processed for histological and immunohistochemical analysis. The expression patterns of an inhibitory regulator (IL-1β) and a master regulator (Sox9) of chondrogenesis in condylar cartilage of growing rats were investigated. Quantitative analysis shows that masseteric resection significantly increased the number of IL-1β positive cells in proliferative layer. In contrast, the number of Sox9 positive cells was significantly decreased compared to the control animals. It can be concluded that the reduced articular function due to masseteric resection decreased condylar cartilage cell differentiation which led to the decrease in the thickness of condylar cartilage.

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Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is an immunologically-mediated lung disease caused by repeated inhalation of dispersed antigen. Various cytokines have been reported to be involved in the immunopathogenesis of HP. Recently, some reports suggested an association between the genetic control of cytokine production and disease susceptibility. To evaluate whether cytokine gene polymorphisms are associated with HP, we performed a case-control association study involving 61 patients with HP, consisting of summer-type HP (SHP) and bird fancier’s lung (BFL, also named bird fancier’s disease), as well as 101 healthy controls. Polymorphisms of the genes for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (－ 308G/A, －857C/T, －863C/A, －1031T/C), interleukin (IL)-10 (－ 592C/A, － 819C/T, － 1082G/A), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 (－509C/T, ＋869T/C), and IL- 6 (－634C/G) were examined by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. There were no significant differences in allele frequency and genotype distribution among control, SHP, and BFL group. When HP group was divided into acute or chronic, no significant differences were detected between any groups. LPS-stimulated IL-6 secretion by whole blood cells was similar between subjects with GG genotype and non-GG genotype in IL-6 －634C/G polymorphism. In conclusion, the association between HP susceptibility and cytokine polymorphisms studied was not demonstrated.

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