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25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), produced by cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) in macrophages, has been reported to inhibit the replication of viral pathogens such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. Also, CH25H expression in macrophages is robustly induced by interferons (IFNs).To better understand the serum level increase of 25HC in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and how it relates to the clinical picture.We measured the serum levels of 25HC and five other oxysterols in 17 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.On admission, 25HC and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC) serum levels were elevated; however, 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) levels were lower in patients with COVID-19 than in the healthy controls. There was no significant correlation between 25HC serum levels and disease severity markers, such as interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin 6. Dexamethasone effectively suppressed cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) mRNA expression in RAW 264.7 cells, a murine leukemia macrophage cell line, with or without lipopolysaccharide or IFNs; therefore, it might mitigate the increasing effects of COVID-19 on the serum levels of 25HC.Our results highlighted that 25HC could be used as a unique biomarker in severe COVID-19 and a potential therapeutic candidate for detecting the severity of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Objectives: Several researchers have investigated inflammatory cytokines in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) from chronic periodontitis with clinical parameters after periodontal treatment. The aim of the present study was to identify the inflammatory cytokines present in GCF associated with periodontal pocket healing after scaling and root planing (SRP). Methods: Twenty patients were enrolled, and clinical examinations including probing pocket depth (PPD) and bleeding on probing (BOP) were performed at the first visit, and before and after SRP. The periodontal epithelial surface area (PESA) and periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) were also calculated. GCF samples were collected before and after SRP to measure the levels of 40 inflammatory cytokines using antibody array. Correlations between changes in cytokine levels and clinical improvements were assessed by single and multiple regression analyses. Results: PPD, PESA and PISA significantly decreased after SRP, while there were no significant differences in the levels of cytokines before (PreSRP) and one week after SRP (PostSRP). Clinical improvements (ΔPPD, ΔPESA and ΔPISA) were calculated using the formula PreSRP-PostSRP, while changes in the levels of inflammatory cytokines were calculated using three formulas: PreSRP-PostSRP, PostSRP/PreSRP and Log(PostSRP/PreSRP). Log (PostSRP/PreSRP) for interleukin-1β (IL-1β) significantly correlated with ΔPESA (R = -0.512). PostSRP/PreSRP and Log(PostSRP/PreSRP) for intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) significantly correlated with ΔPISA (R = -0.669, -0.573). Two good fit models were generated by multiple linear regression. Log(PostSRP/PreSRP) for IL-1β significantly affected ΔPESA (R2 = 0.566). PostSRP/PreSRP for ICAM-1 significantly affected ΔPISA (R2 = 0.615). Conclusion: Changes (PreSRP-PostSRP) in any cytokines in GCF after SRP were not associated with clinical improvements. However, the present study indicates that lower PostSRP/PreSRP ratios for IL-1β and ICAM-1 in GCF lead to a greater decrease in PESA and PISA, respectively. Periodontal pocket healing might be affected by a decreased ratio of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and ICAM-1 at an early stage after SRP.

Asian victims of Japanese imperialism have filed lawsuits against the Japanese government and corporations since the 1990s, which became prime sites for redress decades after Japan's defeat in World War II. As this ethnography demonstrates, this process paradoxically exposes a legal lacuna within this emergent transnational legal space, with plaintiffs effectively caught between the law, instead of standing before the law. Exploring this absence of law, I map out a post‐imperial legal space, created through the erasure of imperial and colonial subjects in the legal framework after empire. Between the law is an optic that makes visible uneven legal terrains that embody temporal and spatial disjuncture, rupture, and asymmetry. The role of law in post‐imperial transitions remains underexplored in literatures on transnational law, legal imperialism, postcolonialism, and transitional justice. I demonstrate how, at the intersection of law and economy, post‐imperial reckoning is emerging as a new legal frontier, putting at stake law's imperial amnesia.

Toluene is a major component of thinner, which can cause intoxication with inhalation. Until recently, there were little experimental data focusing on the neuropharmacological effects of toluene. In this study, central effects caused by toluene were examined. Noradrenaline and dopamine levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) were studied in freely-moving rats during exposure to inhaled toluene, using in vivo microdialysis. Toluene inhalation at 7,000 ppm increased extracellular noradrenaline and dopamine levels in both the mPFC and the NAcc. In the NAcc, noradrenaline and dopamine increased to 210% and 178% of their respective baseline values. In the mPFC, noradrenaline and dopamine increased to 306% and 183%, respectively. At both sites, the increase of noradrenaline was greater than that of dopamine. Toluene inhalation at 1,000 ppm and 3,000 ppm did not significantly affect extracellular noradrenaline and dopamine levels. It became clear that toluene inhalation was involved in the mesolimbic dopamine system which plays an especially important part in the drug dependence. These results also suggest that exposure to toluene by inhalation enhances excitability of noradrenergic neurons.

Background Full-thickness skin defects with exposed bone are often hard to heal. The lack or delayed re-vascularization is considered one of the major causes, and the periosteum is also suggested to have an important role in tissue regeneration. Materials and methods Full-thickness skin defect wounds with exposed bone were made in the parietal region of Wister rats. The periosteum of the exposed parietal bone was removed in the periosteum-lacking group, but maintained in the control group (periosteum-intact group). The wound was covered by an artificial dermis made of collagen. The wound healing process was histologically compared. Double immunostaining of α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) was used for re-vascularization examination, and the blood vessel density in the artificial dermis was quantified. Results The density of the blood vessels in the uninjured parietal tissue was approximately 80 vessels/mm 2 . To reach this density, 7 and 21 days were required for the control (periosteum-intact) and the periosteum-lacking groups, respectively. This coincided with complete revascularization, fibroblast migration and the reentry of blood vessels to the upper layer of the wound were observed. Conclusion The described results support the importance of the periosteum in the full-thickness skin defect healing process.

Various reports describe surgical techniques for closing a meningomyelocele defect. We have used a combination flap consisting of a vertical bipedicled flap and V-Y advancement flap and used this technique in the successful repair of 11 meningomyelocele defects. The vertical bipedicled flap enhances the blood supply to the V-Y advancement flap with no sacrifice of muscle tissue. This flap can easily be moved to the midline, and the donor area can be primarily sutured with no complications. Our method has several advantages compared with previously reported methods: 1) no skin grafts are needed; 2) no muscle tissue is killed; 3) it is simple and easy, leading to less blood loss and minimal operative time; and 4) it is safe and produces reliable results while eliminating wound dehiscence and skin necrosis.

Aryl ortho-quinone monoacetal 6 possessing a carbamate group on the side chain Was synthesized from the appropriate biphenyl precursor via selective oxidation of one of the aromatic rings. Under Lewis acidic conditions, the carbamate group underwent internal attack at the quinone acetal moiety to give the spiro tricycle 9 corresponding to the A-. C-, and D-rings of erythrinan alkaloids, from which O-methylerysodienone was synthesized via the B ring formation in an efficient manner.

Eugenol is a main ingredient of clove oil, and either eugenol or clove oil is important constituent in various dental preparations. Rather strong allergenicity of eugenol was confirmed in examination with two methods of modified guinea pig maximization test, which is called adjuvant and patch test, and ear swelling test in mice. Possibility that delayed contact hypersensitivity is induced by use of an eugenol preparation must be admitted. It is found that eugenol in various dental preparations is applied to contact with gingiva or teeth in an enough concentration to cause hypersensitivity especially in the case of some zinc oxide-eugenol preparations such as periodontal dressings and root canal cements. On the other hand clove oil and eugenol are more widely and frequently used for cosmetic and food processing than for dental treatment, and there would be many opportunities in man to get hypersensitivity to eugenol. Even in the case of a new patient the correlation between the allergic symptoms and dental treatment will give rise to the supposition that an eugenol preparation is causing the trouble.

An oxathiolanone derivative of rutin could be produced in the stomach after the ingestion of rutin containing foods, and the oxathiolanone derivative could be hydrolysed to an oxathiolanone derivative of quercetin (quercetin-oxathiolanone) in the intestine. Quercetin-oxathiolanone as well as quercetin inhibited xanthine oxidase. Approximately 0.05 μM quercetin-oxathiolanone inhibited the activity by 50%, whereas 50% inhibition by quercetin was observed at approximately 0.4 μM. The results suggested that quercetin-oxathiolanone can be used as an effective inhibitor of xanthine oxidase and that the ingestion of rutin-rich foods may be useful to prevent the increase in the blood concentration of uric acid.

Summary Background The technique chosen to reconstruct anterior lamellar defects of the upper eyelid requires careful consideration. We modified pre-existing techniques used to reconstruct anterior lamellar defects after tumour resection and have called this procedure a hemi-orbicularis oculi switch flap. Methods This musculocutaneous flap is elevated with underlying orbicularis and its base abuts the anterior lamellar defect. The flap, which is half the height of the defect, is elevated and inset to cover the defect. Then, taking into consideration the extensibility of upper eyelid skin, the remainder of the defect and the donor site are closed directly. Results Five patients with basal cell carcinoma, haemangioma, and xanthoma of the upper eyelid were treated by this method. All flaps survived and complications were minimal. Aesthetically and functionally good results were obtained by this method. Conclusions We have developed a surgical method for the reconstruction of anterior lamellar defects of the upper eyelid. The proposed method is technically simple and safe and provides consistent results for a potentially wide variety of upper eyelid tumours.

A technique to correct frontal sinus hypertrophy is presented. The outer table of the frontal sinus is removed and divided into three pieces with an oscillation saw. The pieces are trimmed at the margin, fixed with two microplates, and regrafted. Bilateral lateral thick portions of the supraorbital rim are shaved with a surgical burr. At the same time, a forehead lift is performed. A satisfactory result with a flat and wide forehead can be obtained by employing this technique.

Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Oct Multiple self-healing squamous epithelioma (MSSE), also known as Ferguson-Smith Disease, is a rare cancer-associated genodermatosis with an autosomal dominant inheritance. Affected patients suffer from recurrent skin lesions, which clinically and histologically resemble keratoacanthomas or well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas, but which, if left, undergo spontaneous regression, leaving pronounced scarring. The majority of MSSE cases previously described were of Scottish ancestry and all shared the same at-risk haplotype, suggesting that this disorder was caused by a founder mutation. The candidate locus for MSSE lies in a region of