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Orexins (Oxs) are multifunctional neuropeptides, secreted from the lateral hypothalamus, that stimulate feeding behavior and energy expenditure. In this study, the direct effects of Oxs on the membrane properties of trigeminal motoneurons (TMNs) were examined, which critically participate in the genesis of rhythmical oral motor activities underlying suckling and mastication. Sprague-Dawley rats (3-6 day-old) were used to obtain whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from TMNs. Bath application of Ox-A depolarized the membrane potential and induced inward current, wherein Na+ and Ca2+ were charge carriers. Transient receptor potential channel activation potentially contributed to current and voltage responses by way of Ox-A. Ox-A increased the peak amplitude and duration at half-amplitude of the medium-duration after hyperpolarization following the action potential. The interspike frequency of steady-state firings during repetitive discharge was increased, along with a shift in the frequency-current relationship occurring toward the left. Extracellular and intracellular Ca2+ were involved in regulating modulatory effects, but a requisite level of intracellular Ca2+ was not essential for Ox-induced upregulation of the interspike frequency. Ox-A also enhanced conditional bursting induced by N-methyl-d-aspartate and 5-HT, suggesting it participates in modulating TMNs' discharge patterns during various oral motor activities.

This project will conduct a systematic review of conference papers that had been presented at the Japanese Psychological Association and the Japanese Society of Social Psychology. This is a protocol for the stage 1 data collection of the review.

STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI) is a type-I interferonopathy, characterized by systemic inflammation, peripheral vascular inflammation, and pulmonary manifestations. There are three reports of SAVI patients developing liver disease, but no report of a SAVI patient requiring liver transplantation. Therefore, the relevance of liver inflammation is unclear in SAVI. We report a SAVI patient who developed severe liver disorder following liver transplantation. SAVI was diagnosed in a 4-year-old girl based on genetic analysis by whole-exome sequencing. We demonstrated clinical features, laboratory findings, and pathological examination of her original and transplanted livers. At 2 months of age, she developed bronchitis showing resistance to bronchodilators and antibiotics. At 10 months of age, she developed liver dysfunction with atypical cholangitis, which required liver transplantation at 1 year of age. At 2 years of age, multiple biliary cysts developed in the transplanted liver. At 3.9 years of age, SAVI was diagnosed by whole-exome sequencing. Inflammatory cells from the liver invaded the stomach wall directly, leading to fatal gastrointestinal bleeding unexpectedly at 4.6 years of age. In pathological findings, there were no typical findings of liver abscess, vasculitis, or graft rejection, but biliary cysts and infiltration of inflammatory cells, including plasmacytes around the bile duct area, in the transplanted liver were noted, which were findings similar to those of her original liver. Although further studies to clarify the mechanisms of the various liver disorders described in SAVI patients are needed, inflammatory liver manifestations may be amplified in the context of SAVI.

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare malignant mesenchymal tumor. It is classified into 3 subgroups, and PPB type 1 is known to be a cystic lesion with good prognosis. Here, we report a case of PPB type 1 seen in a 1-year-old girl whose pulmonary cystic lesion had been followed-up as a congenital pulmonary airway malformation since neonate. The cyst had been diagnosed as congenital pulmonary airway malformation before surgery but the final diagnosis was type 1 PPB. The tumor had a somatic mutation in exon 25 of the DICER 1 gene whereas no germline mutation was found.

Differences in clinical features between congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) and bronchial atresia (BA) have not yet been clearly described.We retrospectively reviewed 112 patients with a pathological diagnosis of CPAM or BA. The clinical parameters were statistically analyzed between these diseases.Seventy-one patients received prenatal diagnosis and 41 received postnatal diagnosis. The percentage of prenatal diagnosis was significantly higher in CPAM patients (84% vs 50%, p 0.001). Among patients with prenatal diagnosis, the backgrounds were not different between the two diseases except for the number of Caesarean sections (81% vs 9%, p 0.0001). The numbers of patients that underwent fetal interventions and emergent neonatal surgery were higher in CPAM (51% vs 15%, p 0.01 and 76% vs 12%, p 0.0001), although there was no statistical difference in survival rate (86% vs 97%, p = 0.2). In patients receiving postnatal diagnosis, pneumonia was the primary symptom in most BA patients, whereas respiratory distress was the major symptom in patients with CPAM. Age at presentation of the primary symptom was significantly older in BA patients (4.2 years vs 1.2 years, p 0.005).CPAM and BA have distinct clinical features in terms of therapeutic and natural history. Careful imaging evaluation and pathological analysis can lead to an accurate diagnosis of BA.Prognostic study.Level II. This study is categorized as a "Prognostic Study" with LEVEL III of Evidence.

Purposes: Intralobar pulmonary sequestration is a rare congenital anomaly that causes nonspecific respiratory symptoms. This report presented our surgical experience for pediatric cases of intralobar pulmonary sequestration in our institute. Methods: Between 2002 and 2014, 30 pediatric patients with intralobar pulmonary sequestration underwent lobectomy. The clinical characteristics of patients were retrospectively analyzed using medical records and imaging data. Results: The median age at operation was 23 months. The sequestered lung was situated in the right lower lung in 15 cases and in the left lower lung in 15 cases. Eight cases were prenatally diagnosed by fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. One aberrant artery was seen in 26 cases and two aberrant arteries in 4 cases. The drainage vein from the sequestered lung was: 1) the pulmonary vein in 27 cases; 2) the inferior vena cava in 1 case; and 3) the azygos vein and the pulmonary vein in 2 cases. All patients underwent lower lobectomy of the affected side without postoperative early and long-term complications. Conclusion: Due to the increased rate of prenatal diagnoses, the age at operation has decreased. With respect to safety, it is vital to ascertain the number of aberrant arteries and the venous drainage route before lobectomy.

A chronic expanding hematoma (CEH), a type of lesion that gradually develops after trauma or surgery, can appear in many locations, though occurrence in the head and neck region is uncommon. Here, we report the first known case of a CEH arising in the oral floor, which developed in a 16-year-old woman who exhibited a slowly expanding mass over a period of 2 months after dental treatment.

Tracheal cartilage reconstruction is an essential approach for the treatment of tracheal congenital abnormalities or injury. Here, we evaluated the use of allogeneic decellularized tracheas as novel support scaffolds. Six weaned pigs (4-week-old domestic males) were transplanted with allogeneic tracheal graft patches (three decellularized and three fresh tracheal scaffolds) onto artificial defects (approximately 15 × 15 mm). After 11 weeks, the tracheas were evaluated by bronchoscopy and histological studies. No pigs displayed airway symptoms during the observation period. Tracheal lumen restored by fresh graft patches showed more advanced narrowing than that treated with decellularized grafts by bronchoscopy. Histologically, fresh grafts induced typical cellular rejection; this was decreased with decellularized grafts. In addition, immunohistochemistry demonstrated regenerating foci of recipient cartilage along the adjacent surface of decellularized tracheal grafts. Decellularized allogeneic tracheal scaffolds could be effective materials for restoring impaired trachea.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a primary immunodeficiency disease that is characterized by susceptibility to bacterial and fungal infections. CGD patients also suffer from immune regulatory disorders, such as CGD-associated bowel inflammation with granuloma, which could be caused by excessive inflammation without demonstrable infection. We investigated the clinical manifestation of interstitial lung disease (ILD) resulting from excessive inflammation in X-linked CGD patients. Pulmonary CT images and testing of serum KL-6 levels were performed to assess ILD in the patients. For this study, patients with pulmonary lesions due to demonstrable infections were excluded from among ILD patients. Among 33 CGD patients, four developed ILD; they had increased reticulo-nodular opacities on CT images and elevated serum KL-6 levels. Histopathological examinations revealed multiple homogeneous microgranulomas in the lesions of inflammatory cell infiltration. Mononuclear cells obtained from their pulmonary lesions produced higher amounts of inflammatory cytokines than the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of CGD patients, suggesting that the only infiltrating cells in the pulmonary lesions were activated and produced large amounts of inflammatory cytokines in ILD patients. Interestingly, an anti-inflammatory drug, such as a corticosteroid or thalidomide, but not anti-bacterial or anti-fungal drugs, improved CT image findings and reduced their KL-6 levels. CGD patients’ daily exposures to inhaled antigens may induce excessive reactions with the production of inflammatory cytokines leading to the development of ILD with multiple microgranulomas, which could be due to an inadequate production of reactive oxygen species in CGD.

Why do people make requests indirectly? We examined the goals of indirect requests in order to answer this question. In study 1, 162 university students completed a questionnaire regarding the goals of indirect requests. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the goals of indirect requests could be classified into five types: concern for the listener, making an effective request, avoidance of explicit refusal, self-impression management, or conveyance of indebtedness. In study 2, we examined whether these goals actually affect the use of indirect requests by conducting a questionnaire study with 25 university students. The results indicated that some goals (making an effective request, avoidance of explicit refusal, self-impression management, and conveyance of indebtedness) have positive effects on indirect requests, whereas the goal of concern for the listener has no effect. Therefore, we concluded that these four goals which have positive effects are reasonable goals for indirect requests.

This study had three purposes: first, to classify the situations that produce feelings of gratitude; second, to clarify the groups of emotional experiences that compose gratitude; third, to examine the relationship between the type of situations and the groups of emotional experiences. Results of a preliminary study indicated that situations that produce gratitude were classified into five types: “receiving help”, “receiving gifts”, “getting a condition improved”, “changeless condition”, and “imposing on others”. Then, words that express emotions in these situations were classified 38 items. Further, 434 undergraduate students were asked to rate these 38 items about emotion in accordance with how they would feel if they were placed in these five situations. Factor analysis revealed three groups of emotional experiences: ‘contentment’, ‘apologetic emotion’, and ‘unpleasantness’. Of these three, ‘contentment’ and ‘apologetic emotion’ composed gratitude. However ‘unpleasantness’ did not compose any part of gratitude. In addition, combination of the group of emotional experiences differed with the type of situation. For example, ‘apologetic emotion’ was felt in situations in which the existence of another person was emphasized, but this emotion was not felt in situations that did not do so.

This study had two purposes: first, to clarify the cognitive appraisals that produce gratitude; and second, to examine the effect of cognitive appraisals on emotional experiences of gratitude. Results of a preliminary study indicated that four predominant cognitive appraisals can produce gratitude: naturalness of the situation, receipt of benefit, concern of benefactor to recipient, and cost to benefactor. Furthermore, 488 undergraduate students were presented with five types of situations that produce gratitude: “receiving help,” “receiving gifts,” “imposing on others,” “getting a condition improved” or “changeless condition.” Then, we asked participants to rate on the scales of the four groups of cognitive appraisals and two groups of emotional experiences of gratitude: contentment and apologetic emotion. Factor analysis revealed three groups of cognitive appraisals: ‘receiving favor,’ ‘cost to benefactor,’ and ‘naturalness of the situation.’ Regression analysis showed that ‘receiving benefit’ facilitates contentment. Furthermore, in three types of situations, namely “receiving help,” “receiving gifts” and “imposing on others,” ‘cost to benefactor’ facilitated apologetic emotion. In addition, the effects of cognitive appraisal on emotional experiences of gratitude differed among the types of situation. These results were discussed regarding the different characteristics among the types of situations.

High-speed instruments potentially produce large amounts of contaminated splatters and aerosols during dental procedures. To evaluate the dissemination of blood and distribution of frequent contaminations, we investigated blood contamination on environmental surfaces of equipment in an outpatient procedure room. Test samples were collected with disposable alcohol cotton from 443 portions on the surfaces of medical equipment, and a leucomalachite green blood detection test was then applied. Positive results were common for dental chair equipment requiring frequent hand contact, such as the controller of the electric coagulator (46.2%, 6/13) and armrest (36.4%, 4/11). On the surfaces with minimal hand contact, positive results were observed on the surface of the light arm (35.7%, 5/14) and bracket table arm (12.5%, 2/16). Housekeeping surfaces with frequent hand contact such as the sliding door knob (22.2%, 4/18) and towel case (33.3%, 1/3) also showed positive results. Another 36 samples were collected from surfaces of the PC system. Positive reactions were observed on the keyboard (14.3%, 1/7) and display (33.3%, 2/6), although no blood was detected on the mouse controller, PC body or desk. Possible routes of blood contamination seemed to be blood-contaminated splatters and medical staff-associated hand contact. As blood stains were all invisible on the surfaces of frequent hand-contact equipment, these results appear useful for cleaning and disinfection protocols.

The subjects of this study were 208 patients who underwent endoscopic hemostasis at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Iwate University between January 2004 and December 2008. There were 153 men and 55 women with a mean age of 65.3 years. Among them, 181 patients underwent endoscopic hemostasis in the stomach or duodenum and were divided into the peptic ulcer and artificial ulcer groups. The following were retrospectively analyzed: success rates of endoscopic hemostasis, rates of rebleeding, and devices used during treatment. The overall success rate of endoscopic hemostasis was 97.2%. Hemostasis was achieved in 98.2% of the cases with peptic ulcer bleeding and in 88.9% of the cases with artificial ulcer bleeding. Monotherapy (one hemostatic device) was used in 141 cases (77.9%), combination therapy (multiple hemostatic devices) was used in 39 cases (21.5%), and primary hemostasis was used in one case (0.6%) because of blood flow reduction during the observation period. A heat probe was used in 145 cases (80.1%), making it the most frequently used device. Endoscopic hemostasis is very effective for nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

This study examined the motives for different expressions of humor. University students (n = 286) completed a questionnaire regarding motives for three types of humor expressions: aggressive humor, self-disparaging humor, and playful humor. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the motives for the expressions of humor could be classified into five types: relationship construction, transmitting dissatisfaction, supporting others, managing self-impression, or supporting self. ANOVA was conducted to examine differences in the strengths of the motives among the three types of humor expressions. The results indicated that the motive for transmitting dissatisfaction was stronger in aggressive humor expressions than in the two other types of humor expressions. On the other hand, the motive for supporting others was weaker in aggressive humor expressions than in the two other types of humor expressions. Moreover, the motive for supporting self was stronger in self-disparaging humor expression than in aggressive humor expression.

To assess the particularities of four factors in assessing embarrassment (i.e., apprehension of social evaluation, inconsistency with self-image, disruption of social interaction, and loss of self-esteem) in four nontypical situations in Japan (i.e., nervousness about others, uneasiness with others, self-consciousness, and sexual circumstances), 109 university students were presented descriptions of 8 scenes and rated 17 items to measure factors related to embarrassment. Analysis indicated that disruption of social interaction was rated as characteristic of every situation. This result suggests that disruption of social interaction model is a valid premise of embarrassment in nontypical situations.