BACKGROUND Acute posterolateral ischemia in sheep results in ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR). While complete ring annuloplasty prevents acute IMR, partial annuloplasty rings may offer a more physiologic repair, but are untested in animal models of IMR. METHODS Radiopaque markers were placed on the LV, mitral annulus (MA), and leaflets in 13 sheep. Seven sheep served as controls, and 6 had...

Objective: To compare the infant mortality rate (IMR) due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in twins and singletons and consider the risk factors of SIDS. Materials and methods: The IMR due to SIDS was analyzed among twins and singletons from 1995 to 2008 using the Japanese Vital Statistics. Results and discussion: The IMR for both twins and singletons decreased (1/3-1/4) significantly dur...

BACKGROUND To better understand factors that may impact infant mortality rates (IMR), we evaluated the consistency across birth hospitals in the classification of a birth event as either a fetal death or an early neonatal (infant) death using natality data from North Carolina for the years 1995-2000. METHODS A database consisting of fetal deaths and infant deaths occurring within the first 24...

We have previously shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) miR-760, miR-186, miR-337-3p, and miR-216b stimulate premature senescence through protein kinase CK2 (CK2) down-regulation in human colon cancer cells. Here, we examined whether these four miRNAs are involved in the replicative senescence of human lung fibroblast IMR-90 cells. miR-760 and miR-186 were significantly upregulated in replicatively se...

Computed tomography is a widely used medical imaging technique that has high spatial and temporal resolution. Its weakness is its low sensitivity towards contrast media. Iterative reconstruction techniques (ITER) have recently become available, which provide reduced image noise compared with traditional filtered back-projection methods (FBP), which may allow the sensitivity of CT to be improved...

The aim of the study was to investigate the image quality of low-dose CT images with different reconstruction algorithms including filtered back projection (FBP), hybrid iterative reconstruction (HIR), and iterative model reconstruction (IMR) algorithms by comparison of routine dose images with FBP reconstruction, in patients with malignant obstructive tracheobronchial diseases.In total, 60 pat...

The human neuroblastoma cell line IMR-32 exhibits both cholinergic and adrenergic properties. We have used IMR-32 cells to study the effects of CDF (CAT development factor) and bFGF (basic fibroblast growth factor) on the development of neurotransmitter properties. CDF treatment increases CAT activity in a dose-dependent manner, independent of cell density. Time course studies show that there i...

Patients with angina and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (NOCAD) present an important diagnostic management challenge. Measurement of the index microcirculatory resistance (IMR) a pressure wire at time invasive angiography can help distinguish between microvascular non-cardiac chest pain. A retrospective audit was undertaken consecutive patients NOCAD measurement indices from Northern r...

[Purpose] Whole-body vibration (WBV) can induce reflex responses in muscles. A number of studies have reported that the physiological mechanisms underlying this type of reflex activity can be explained by reference to a stretch-induced reflex. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to test whether the WBV-induced muscular reflex (WBV-IMR) can be explained as a stretch-induced reflex. [Su...

BACKGROUND Postoperative myocardial function and microcirculation of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was assessed by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). MATERIAL AND METHODS Eighty-nine ACS patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were detected by MCE and two-dimensional ultrasonography before and a month later after PCI respectively. Their myocardial perfusion was e...