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Objective The aim of this study was to investigate lower lip movement during articulatory tasks using a three-dimensional video-based system in subjects with mandibular prognathism. Materials and methods Ten subjects with mandibular prognathism (mean age: 25.4 years) and 20 volunteers (mean age: 27.8 years) participated in the study. The target sounds used were five vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/, /e/ and /o/). The motion of black foam balls placed on four canthal points and four lip points was tracked using two video cameras with a three-dimensional analysis system for animated images. After three-dimensional coordinates were established using the canthal points to correct head motion, lip movement was measured with reference to the coordinates. The standardized trajectory for each point was computed. By comparing the standardized trajectories, differences in lower lip movement between subjects and controls were examined. The Mann–Whitney U-test was used to determine the differences in the maximum displacement of movement between the groups. Results The results showed that (1) the trajectory of lower lip movement in subjects differed to some extent in all vowels and (2) there were significant differences in the amount of lower lip movement between subjects and controls. Conclusions These results suggest that (1) lower lip movement during articulation was affected in subjects with mandibular prognathism and (2) the present method is feasible for the clinical three-dimensional analysis of lower lip movement.

SummaryAlthough sepsis-induced release of nitric oxide (NO) is known to have an antithrombotic effect, it is unknown if NO exerts this same effect under physiological conditions. We have therefore attempted to determine whether or not NO protects against thrombus formation in normal Wistar rats injected with various amounts (0.8, 4.0, 20.0 and 100mg/kg/4hr) of L-NAME (N (omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester), an NO synthase inhibitor, via the tail vein. Plasma levels of D-dimer fragments of fibrin were significantly increased in rats receiving L-NAME (0.21±0.04, 0.22±0.05, 0.26±0.07, 0.59±0.17µg/mL, means±SE; p

SummaryWe have investigated the role of two vasoactive substances, nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin (ET), in the pathophysiology of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), using two types of DIC models. Experimental DIC was induced by sustained infusion of 0.1, 1, 10, or 50 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or 3.75 U/kg thromboplastin (TF), for 4 h via the rat tail vein. Plasma levels of both NOX (metabolites of NO) and ET were significantly increased following infusion of 0.1 mg/kg or greater of LPS in the LPS-induced DIC rat model. In contrast, although a marked increase in the plasma levels of NOX was observed, only a slight increase in plasma ET levels was seen in the TF-induced DIC rat model. No significant differences in the plasma levels of platelets or thrombin-ATIII complex were observed among the TF-induced and LPS (50 mg/dl)-induced DIC models. However, plasma NOX levels rose significantly higher in the TF-induced model, relative to the LPS-induced model (p

動物 Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) モデルは, 組織因子 (TF) または lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 誘発によるものが頻用されているが, 両者は区別されていないのが現状である. 今回, われわれは両DICモデルを作成し, 両モデル間の症状と凝血学的特徴の差異および臨床像との関連について検討した. Wistar 系雄性ラットを用い, TFモデルはTF3.75単位/kgを1時間かけ, LPSモデルはLPS30, 50, 100mg/kgを4時間かけ尾静脈より点滴静注した. 前者は血中 D-dimer の上昇が顕著であり, 後者は血中ATIII活性の低下と臓器障害が目立ち, フィブリン沈着が高度であった. 動物DICモデルの病態は, TFまたはLPSのいずれを用いるかにより大きく異なり, 今後, 動物DICモデルを用いたDIC研究を行う場合の大きな注意点と思われた.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and predict soft-tissue changes in the forehead, nose, lips, and chin in association with anterior maxillary osteotomy.The sample consisted of 20 adult patients (seven men and 13 women, 29.1 years of age immediately before surgery). Both hard- and soft-tissue changes were evaluated using a set of lateral cephalograms taken immediately before and at 7 months after surgery. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed to examine the relationship between hard- and soft-tissue changes. A prediction model was developed using a multiple regression equation.The findings were as follows: (1) Hard-tissue changes were only observed in the maxillary region. Soft-tissue changes included backward displacement of the subnasale and the upper and lower lips. (2) The highest correlation coefficient was obtained between hard- and soft-tissue changes in the upper lip region. (3) The horizontal soft-tissue change in the upper lip region was predicted using a multiple regression equation. These results suggest that anterior maxillary osteotomy influences hard- and soft-tissue changes in the upper lip region and that the response in the horizontal dimension in association with surgery can be predicted.