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Development of an accurate reservoir model and prediction of reservoir behaviour associated with geothermal exploitation using that model are fundamentally important for sustainable geothermal utilisation. Gravity observation for a few tens of days after a field-wide shut-in of geothermal wells potentially provides valuable constraints to improve reservoir models. We investigated the applicability of superconducting gravimeters (SGs) to short-term observations after shut-ins, as a first step towards the development of a method for reservoir model improvement using short-term gravity data. Results from a reservoir simulation of a shut-in at a geothermal field in Japan showed that gravity change at 20 days after the shut-in was 10 nm/s2. To detect such changes with SGs, locations of SG stations should be chosen to minimise noise sufficient to resolve the signal. Considering that field operations and traffic in geothermal fields can make SG data noisy, laboratory gravity measurements were carried out with a SG to investigate the influence of noise level on signal detection. Test masses, which produced a gravity change (7.7–9.0 nm/s2) comparable to the simulation result, were repeatedly placed and removed above the SG during both day and night times with different ambient noise levels. Test results showed that noise level greatly affected signal detection. The signal was only detected twice, under low-noise conditions with the standard deviations of 1.1 and 5.3 nm/s2. In addition, tests in which the SG was operated without a cryogenic refrigerator revealed that the absence of the refrigerator did not increase the noise level. Enhancing the portability of a SG by reducing its weight can make multi-location noise surveys feasible. Our method, of combining reservoir simulations and preliminary noise surveys, would enable successful SG observations to be made in relatively short periods after shut-ins, which would possibly contribute to the development of a method to obtain additional constraints to be used for reservoir model calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To immunohistochemically examine the lacrimal sac walls harvested during dacryocystorhinostomy using an immunostain for immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4).Methods: Forty-four lacrimal sac walls were evaluated. We determined "intensively positive," "sparsely positive," or "negative" staining when the specimens showed IgG4-positive lymphoplasmacytic staining with or without >50 IgG4-positive cells/high-power field, or the absence of stained IgG4-positive cells.Results: Intensively positive, sparsely positive, or negative staining was observed in 8 (18.2%), 14 (31.8%), and 22 specimens (50.0%), respectively. Stained cells infiltrated the subepithelial layer in all specimens with positive staining. Four of the 8 specimens demonstrated partial epithelial denudation with loss of goblet cells.Conclusions: IgG4-positive lymphoplasmacytic infiltration was observed in the subepithelial layer in specimens with intensively positive staining, of which some showed a partially denuded epithelium with loss of goblet cells. These may lead to narrowing of the lacrimal sac lumen and adhesions of the sac walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine surgical outcomes of the posterior layer advancement of the lower eyelid retractors (LER) in patients with congenital entropion and to ascertain whether the pretarsal orbicularis oculi muscle (OOM) was hypertrophic or not. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included three Japanese patients with congenital entropion who underwent posterior layer advancement of the LER. We reviewed the surgical outcomes and postoperative complications, such as lower eyelid ectropion and retraction for each patient. We also measured the diameters of the pretarsal OOM fibers in these patients and compared them with those measured in the previously reported 67 eyelids of 41 Japanese patients with congenital epiblepharon. Results: Congenital entropion was successfully corrected in all three patients without recurrence during 12-months of follow-up. No patient exhibited lower eyelid ectropion or lower eyelid retraction. The mean diameter of the pretarsal OOM fibers was 21.9 μm (range, 20.5-23.7 μm), which was not significantly different from that of the congenital epiblepharon (25.3 μm; range, 18.1-34.7 μm; p = 0.272, Mann-Whitney U test). Conclusions: The surgical outcomes in the present study suggest that posterior layer advancement of the LER is a useful surgical option for treatment of congenital entropion. No histological evidence of pretarsal OOM hypertrophy was shown in congenital entropion, which demonstrated that debulking of the pretarsal OOM may not be significant for correction of this entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valsartan is an antihypertensive drug that was developed using common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in pivotal toxicity studies as a non-rodent species. The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of marmosets in the candidate selection of this drug from a pharmacokinetic and metabolic viewpoint. Valsartan, as well as three other angiotensin II type-I receptor blockers, assumed as competitive candidates, were administered to common marmosets. Human pharmacokinetic parameters predicted by single-species allometric scaling and Wajima superposition suggested that valsartan may exhibit promising pharmacokinetic properties in humans. In vitro metabolic studies of valsartan using isolated rat, dog, marmoset, cynomolgus monkey, and human hepatocytes revealed that the marmoset was the most relevant animal species to humans presenting with the most abundant human metabolite, 4-hydroxyvalsartan. Oral administration of an elevated dose of valsartan to a common marmoset demonstrated that the level of 4-hydroxyvalsartan in the plasma was comparable to that in clinical practice and suggested that safety of the human metabolite might have been confirmed in the toxicity studies using common marmosets. These results suggest that common marmosets, the small, non-human primates, had been a suitable species for the development of valsartan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) are small non-human primates that genetically lack cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9). Polymorphic marmoset CYP2C19 compensates by mediating oxidations of typical human CYP2C9/19 substrates. Twenty-four probe substrates were intravenously administered in combinations to marmosets assigned to extensive or poor metaboliser (PM) groups by CYP2C19 genotyping. Eliminations from plasma of cilomilast, phenytoin, repaglinide, tolbutamide, and S-warfarin in the CYP2C19 PM group were significantly slow; these drugs are known substrates of human CYP2C8/9/19. Human total clearance values and volumes of distribution of the 24 test compounds were extrapolated using single-species allometric scaling with experimental data from marmosets and found to be mostly comparable with the reported values. Human total clearance values and volumes of distribution of 15 of the 24 test compounds similarly extrapolated using reported data sets from cynomolgus or rhesus monkeys were comparable to the present predicted results, especially to those based on data from PM marmosets. These results suggest that single-species allometric scaling using marmosets, being small, has advantages over multiple-species-based allometry and could be applicable for pharmacokinetic predictions at the discovery stage of drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To show the morphological characteristics of two different types of the sinus of Maier, one with a lacrimal sac diverticulum supplied by separate canalicular openings, and the other with a terminal dilatation of the common lacrimal canaliculus. Methods:Twelve coronal specimens (6 right and 6 left) from 6 Japanese cadavers (age range, 70–90 years at death) and 15 axial specimens of 11 Japanese cadavers (8 right, 7 left; age range, 45–89 years at death), fixed in 10% buffered formalin, were used. All specimens were stained with Masson’s trichrome. Results: The sinus of Maier, with a lacrimal sac diverticulum supplied by separate canalicular openings, was shown in one coronally sectioned group, with a diameter of 1.29 mm. The mucosa between both openings (0.282 mm length) comprised stratified squamous epithelia, which was characteristic of the lacrimal canaliculi. The diverticular mucosa was lined by a stratified columnar epithelium, which corresponded to the lacrimal sac. The sinus of Maier, with a terminal dilatation of the common lacrimal canaliculus and with a diameter of 0.51 mm, was demonstrated in one axially sectioned group. Conclusions: The morphological characteristics of two types of the sinus of Maier were described in this study. One type was the lacrimal sac diverticulum supplied by separate canalicular openings, and the other was the terminal dilatation of the common lacrimal canaliculus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]