OBJECTIVE: In our previous study, glass-fiber-reinforced plastics (GFRPs) made from polycarbonate and glass fibers were prepared for esthetic orthodontic wires using pultrusion. These laboratory GFRP wires are more transparent than the commercially available nickel-titanium wire; however, an investigation of the color stability of GFRP during orthodontic treatment is needed. Accordingly, in the present study, the color stability of GFRP was assessed using colorimetry. METHODS: Preparation of GFRP esthetic round wires (diameter: 0.45 mm [0.018 inch]) using pultrusion was described previously. Here, to investigate how the diameter of fiber reinforcement affects color stability, GFRPs were prepared by incorporating either 13-microm (GFRP-13) or 7-microm glass (GFRP-7) fibers. The color changes of GFRPs after 24 h, and following 1, 2, and 4 weeks of coffee immersion at 37degrees C, were measured by colorimetry. We evaluated the color stability of GFRPs by two evaluating units: the color difference (DeltaE*) and National Bureau of Standards (NBS). RESULTS: After immersion, both GFRPs showed almost no visible color change. According to the colorimetry measurements, the DeltaE* values of GFRP-13 and GFRP-7 were 0.73-1.16, and 0.62-1.10, respectively. In accordance with NBS units, both GFRPs showed "slight" color changes. As a result, there were no significant differences in the DeltaE* values or NBS units for GFRP-13 or GFRP-7. Moreover, for both GFRPs, no significant differences were observed in any of the immersion periods. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the GFRPs will maintain high color stability during orthodontic treatment, and are an attractive prospect as esthetic orthodontic wires.
Coffee ; Colorimetry ; Esthetics ; Glass ; Immersion ; Orthodontic Wires* ; Plastics*

AIMTo establish a new, reliable vomiting model in minks.

METHODSAdult male minks (Mustela vison) were randomly divided into groups (n = 6). Cisplatin, apomorphine, copper sulfate and X-radiation were used to establish vomiting model. Retching and vomiting were observed after the vomiting models were given anti-vomiting agents. After the behavioral experiment, assay of 5-HT in the ileum was performed by immunohistologic method.

RESULTSCisplatin 7.5 mg.kg-1 i.p., apomorphine 1.6 mg.kg-1 s.c. and copper sulfate 40 mg.kg-1 ig were shown to evoke vomiting. Retching and vomiting were significantly inhibited in ondansetron and metoclopramide pretreated minks (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAs a new vomiting model, minks may be of great value in studying vomiting mechanism and screening new antiemetic drugs.

Animals ; Antiemetics ; therapeutic use ; Apomorphine ; Cisplatin ; Copper Sulfate ; Disease Models, Animal ; Male ; Metoclopramide ; therapeutic use ; Mink ; Ondansetron ; therapeutic use ; Vomiting ; chemically induced ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of incentive spirometry on respiratory motion in healthy subjects using cine breathing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Ten non-smoking healthy subjects without any history of respiratory disease were studied. Subjects were asked to perform pulmonary training using incentive spirometry every day for two weeks. To assess the effectiveness of this training, pulmonary function tests and cine breathing MRI were performed before starting pulmonary training and two weeks after its completion. RESULTS: After training, there were significant improvements in vital capacity (VC) from 3.58+/-0.8 L to 3.74+/-0.8 L and in %VC from 107.4+/-10.8 to 112.1+/-8.2. Significant changes were observed in the right diaphragm motion, right chest wall motion, and left chest wall motion, which were increased from 55.7+/-9.6 mm to 63.4+/-10.2 mm, from 15.6+/-6.1 mm to 23.4+/-10.4 mm, and from 16.3+/-7.6 mm to 22.0+/-9.8 mm, respectively. CONCLUSION: Two weeks of training using incentive spirometry provided improvements in pulmonary function and respiratory motion, which suggested that incentive spirometry may be a useful preoperative modality for improving pulmonary function during the perioperative period.
Diaphragm ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Motivation* ; Perioperative Period ; Respiration* ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Spirometry* ; Thoracic Wall ; Vital Capacity

We have previously reported on a predictive model for deficiency-excess pattern diagnosis that was unable to predict the medium pattern. In this study, we aimed to develop predictive models for deficiency, medium,and excess pattern diagnosis, and to confirm whether cutoff values for diagnosis differed between the clinics. We collected data from patients' first visit to one of six Kampo clinics in Japan from January 2012 to February 2015. Exclusion criteria included unwillingness to participate in the study, missing data, duplicate data, under 20 years old, 20 or less subjective symptoms, and irrelevant patterns. In total, 1,068 participants were included. Participants were surveyed using a 153-item questionnaire. We constructed a predictive model for deficiency, medium, and excess pattern diagnosis using a random forest algorithm from training data, and extracted the most important items. We calculated predictive values for each participant by applying their data to the predictive model, and created receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves with excess-medium and medium-deficiency patterns. Furthermore, we calculated the cutoff value for these patterns in each clinic using ROC curves, and compared them. Body mass index and blood pressure were the most important items. In all clinics, the cutoff values for diagnosis of excess-medium and medium-deficiency patterns was > 0.5 and < 0.5, respectively. We created a predictive model for deficiency, medium, and excess pattern diagnosis from the data of six Kampo clinics in Japan. The cutoff values for these patterns fell within a narrow range in the six clinics.