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1.
Heliyon ; 2(2): e00069, 2016 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27441248

ABSTRACT

A base-isolated building may sometimes exhibit an undesirable large response to a long-duration, long-period earthquake ground motion and a connected building system without base-isolation may show a large response to a near-fault (rather high-frequency) earthquake ground motion. To overcome both deficiencies, a new hybrid control system of base-isolation and building-connection is proposed and investigated. In this new hybrid building system, a base-isolated building is connected to a stiffer free wall with oil dampers. It has been demonstrated in a preliminary research that the proposed hybrid system is effective both for near-fault (rather high-frequency) and long-duration, long-period earthquake ground motions and has sufficient redundancy and robustness for a broad range of earthquake ground motions.An automatic generation algorithm of this kind of smart structures of base-isolation and building-connection hybrid systems is presented in this paper. It is shown that, while the proposed algorithm does not work well in a building without the connecting-damper system, it works well in the proposed smart hybrid system with the connecting damper system.

2.
J Neuroendocrinol ; 26(3): 164-75, 2014 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24460919

ABSTRACT

Thyroid hormones play crucial roles in the development and functional maintenance of the central nervous system. Despite extensive studies of the neural function of thyroid hormones, little is known about the effects of hypothyroidism on behavioural traits and the mechanisms underlying such effects. In the present study, we report an investigation of congenitally hypothyroid mutant rdw rats, revealing a novel function of thyroid hormones in the central nervous system. The rdw rats were subjected to behavioural analyses such as the rotarod test, open field test and circadian activity measurement. To determine the cause of behavioural disorders, cerebellar morphogenesis was examined by immunohistochemical analysis, and the axonal transport of dopamine in the nigrostriatal pathway was analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography and western blotting. The effects of thyroxine administration to the rdw rats were examined by behavioural analysis. The rdw rats showed severe impairment of motor coordination and balance. This could be explained by the fact that the rats showed severe retardation of cerebellar morphogenesis, which correlates with the small somata and poor dendritic arborisation of Purkinje cells and retarded migration of granule cells particularly during the first two postnatal weeks. Moreover, the rdw rats showed hypoactivity, characterised by decreased circadian locomotor activity. After weaning, thyroxine administration improved the dwarfism in rdw rats but had no effect on cerebellar function. In addition, the rdw rats showed anxiety and depression intrinsically to novel surroundings. Interestingly, the rdw rats showed high levels of dopamine in the substantia nigra and low levels in the striatum, an important centre for the coordination of behaviour. Furthermore, low levels of tubulin in the striatum were detected, indicating the aberrant axonal transport of dopamine in the nigrostriatal pathway as a result of the reduced delivery of microtubules. These findings indicate an important function of thyroid hormones in cerebellar formation and in the regulation of axonal transport of dopamine. Moreover, rdw rats will be useful for studies of brain function and behavioural disorders in congenital hypothyroidism.


Subject(s)
Congenital Hypothyroidism/pathology , Corpus Striatum/growth & development , Dopamine/metabolism , Substantia Nigra/growth & development , Animals , Blotting, Western , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Congenital Hypothyroidism/genetics , Congenital Hypothyroidism/metabolism , Corpus Striatum/metabolism , Female , Male , Psychomotor Performance , Rats , Rotarod Performance Test , Substantia Nigra/metabolism , Thyroid Hormones/blood , Thyroxine/administration & dosage
3.
Kyobu Geka ; 61(13): 1126-9, 2008 Dec.
Article in Japanese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19068700

ABSTRACT

Submuscular Nuss procedure using mammary areola incision was performed on adult pectus excavatum. The skin was incised approximately 3 cm (almost half the entire areolar circumference). The subcutaneous tissue and pectoralis major muscle were incised to reach the 4th rib. The pectoralis major muscle and serratus anterior muscle were separated from the costae and intercostal muscle. A part of the 3rd intercostal muscle was removed. The sternum and cartilages were robust; therefore the anterior chest wall was elevated with a jack allowing Nuss procedure. After fixing a bar, a drainage tubes were placed beneath the bilateral pleural cavity and muscular layer. Then, the pectoralis major muscle was sutured and the subcutaneous tissue was closed with 2 layers of suturing. The skin was closed with 6-0 nylon sutures, leaving no obvious scar. The mammary areola incision which is used for breast cancer can also successfully applied to Nuss procedure. The Nuss procedure using mammary areola incision is recommended for pectus excavatum with upper chest depression.


Subject(s)
Breast/surgery , Funnel Chest/surgery , Adult , Humans , Male , Thoracic Surgical Procedures/methods
4.
Planta Med ; 65(6): 545-8, 1999 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10483376

ABSTRACT

The methotrexate (MTX) administration to rats causes the damage of small intestine. The small intestinal damage was evaluated by measuring the intestinal permeability of the poorly absorbable compound, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled dextran (average molecular weight, 4,400) (FD-4) using the in vitro everted intestine technique and by determining the FD-4 that appeared in plasma using the in situ closed loop intestine technique. The MTX administration to rats fed with the standard laboratory diet increased the small intestinal permeability of FD-4 due to the damage of the small intestine. Interestingly, the permeability of FD-4, when MTX was administered to rats fed with the aged garlic extract containing diet, was depressed almost to the level of control rats without the MTX treatment. The present study showed that the aged garlic extract protected the small intestine from the damage induced by the action of MTX on the crypt cells.


Subject(s)
Garlic , Intestinal Mucosa/drug effects , Intestine, Small/drug effects , Methotrexate/toxicity , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plants, Medicinal , Animals , Body Weight/drug effects , Intestinal Absorption , Intestinal Mucosa/pathology , Intestinal Mucosa/physiology , Intestine, Small/pathology , Intestine, Small/physiology , Male , Plant Extracts/pharmacokinetics , Rats , Rats, Wistar
5.
Am J Med Genet ; 49(3): 266-9, 1994 Feb 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-8209883

ABSTRACT

We report on a 16-year-old girl with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, nephrotic syndrome, lymphopenia, and signs of defective cellular immunity. The manifestations are very similar to those reported by Spranger et al. [1991: J. Pediatr 119: 64-72] as Schimke immunoosseous dysplasia, except for age of onset. In Schimke immunoosseous dysplasia, growth retardations as an initial symptom is noted in early childhood and about 1 year after onset of progressive proteinuria. In our case the skeletal abnormality was noted at age 10 years as dislocation of the hip joints and the diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome was made at age 16 years. The findings strongly suggest that our patient has a juvenile variant of Schimke immunoosseous dysplasia.


Subject(s)
Osteochondrodysplasias/genetics , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Immunity, Cellular/genetics , Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/complications , Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/genetics , Lymphopenia/complications , Lymphopenia/genetics , Nephrotic Syndrome/complications , Nephrotic Syndrome/genetics , Nephrotic Syndrome/pathology , Osteochondrodysplasias/complications , Osteochondrodysplasias/diagnostic imaging , Radiography
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