OBJECTIVES To identify the most significant salivary biomarkers in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) using proteomic methods. METHODS Parotid saliva from 20 non-SS subjects and 41 primary SS patients was analysed. Protein expression profiles for each sample were generated by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). Mean peak intensities of SS patient...

PURPOSE To verify the hypothesis that protein concentrations, such as lactoferrin, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and aquaporin 5 (AQP5), in tears are abnormal in patients with dry eye. DESIGN Prospective case-control study. METHODS One hundred three dry eye patients were divided into three groups: dry eye not associated with the Sjögren syndrome (non-SS; n = 71), Sjögren syndrome (SS; n = ...

Synovial sarcoma (SS) is an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma with a poor prognosis and, thus, novel therapeutic strategies for SS are urgently required. In the present study, we investigated the functional and therapeutic relevance of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-MET signaling in SS. Both HGF and c-MET were highly expressed in Yamato-SS cells, resulting in activation of c-MET and its downstre...

Silk sericin (SS)/silk fibroin (SF) blend nanofibers have been produced by electrospinning in a binary SS/SF trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) solution system, which was prepared by mixing 20 wt.% SS TFA solution and 10 wt.% SF TFA solution to give different compositions. The diameters of the SS/SF nanofibers ranged from 33 to 837 nm, and they showed a round cross section. The surface of the SS/SF nan...

The austenitic stainless steel (SS) has been used as a material for  building  ultra  high  vacuum  (UHV)  chamber.  Recently significant  efforts  have  been  concerned  a  comparing  the standard  cleaned  for  ultra  high  vacuum,  passivity  stainless. In  this work Austenitic  nanocomposites were  synthesize by sol-  gel method. The morphologies  and  topographies  of  the samples  h...

The vasoocclusive process in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) is complex and involves interactions among sickle erythrocytes (SS-RBC), vascular endothelium, and plasma and cellular components. The role of neutrophils (PMN) in vasoocclusion has not been examined. Patients with SCD appear to have chronically activated PMN. Because the first step in PMN activation is particle recognition, w...

The sclerotium is an important dormant body for many plant fungal pathogens. Here, we reported that a protein, named Ss-Sl2, is involved in sclerotial development of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Ss-Sl2 does not show significant homology with any protein of known function. Ss-Sl2 contains two putative PAN modules which were found in other proteins with diverse adhesion functions. Ss-Sl2 is a secret...

BACKGROUND In Western clinical training, formulation of a summary statement (SS) is a core exercise for articulation, evaluation, and improvement of clinical reasoning (CR). In Japanese clinical training, structured guidance in developing CR, including opportunity for SS practice, is uncommon, and the present status of case summarization skills is unclear. We used Virtual Patients (VPs) to expl...

To learn more about controlling renal interstitial hydrostatic pressure (RIHP), we assessed its response to renal medullary direct interstitial volume expansion (rmDIVE = 100 μL bolus infusion/30 sec). Three experimental series (S) were performed in hydropenic, anesthetized, right-nephrectomized, acute left renal-denervated and renal perfusion pressure-controlled rats randomly assigned to group...

The present study examined whether 20-HETE production is reduced in the renal vasculature and whether this impairs myogenic or tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) responses of the afferent arteriole (Af-Art). The production of 20-HETE was 73% lower in renal microvessels of Dahl salt-sensitive rats (SS) rats than in SS.5(BN) rats, in which chromosome 5 from the Brown Norway (BN) rat containing the C...