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Biodegradable polymers such as poly‐l‐lactic acid (PLLA) are essential tools for a wide range of medical applications because of their mechanical robustness and bio‐affinity. Laser processing is commonly used to construct various structures from biodegradable polymers. However, in general, polymers deteriorate rapidly owing to laser‐induced heating effects. In this study, we investigate the optimum irradiation conditions for PLLA processing, using an ultrafast laser and finely controlling the pulse duration over the femtosecond‐to‐picosecond range. We report on the morphological characteristics of the craters generated by single‐shot and multiple‐shot laser irradiation under pulse duration control. Our results show that crater morphology and damage threshold in the single‐shot regime depend on pulse duration and that the degree of crater unevenness is insensitive to pulse duration in the multishot regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although some studies have reported on the relationship between appendiceal stump closure methods and postoperative complications, there is no fixed method for this procedure. This study aimed to compare treatment outcomes of the existing procedures. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 200 patients who underwent urgent laparoscopic surgeries and investigated whether the difference in the appendiceal stump closure method was a risk factor for surgical site infection. The patients were divided into the Endoloop and endostapler groups, and 45 propensity score‐matched patients were included. The treatment outcomes of the two groups were compared. Results: The patients with high body temperature showed significantly developed surgical site infection in multivariate analysis (P =.036). There was no significant difference in the appendix stump methods (Endoloop vs endostapler). Regarding postoperative complications, superficial and deep incisional surgical site infection, organ/space surgical site infection, ileus, and complications of Clavien–Dindo grade IIIa or higher; there was no significant difference between the endoloop and endostapler groups after propensity score matching (P =.725, 1.000,.645 and.557, respectively). Conclusion: By properly using the Endoloop and endostapler according to the severity of inflammation, the Endoloop can be safely performed in many cases. Inexpensive Endoloop as an option for stump closure methods should positively impact medical costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craniofacial morphological anomalies can be divided into two principal categories: skeletal anomalies and soft tissue anomalies. This study examined the hypothesis that the assessment of indices representing both skeletal and soft tissue can be used to appropriately identify the risk factor of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). 232 suspected OSAHS male patients were examined with polysomnography and divided into two groups (202 males with OSAHS and 30 male controls without OSAHS). Cephalometric analysis was performed on all patients to evaluate craniofacial morphological anomalies. The measurement sites were as follows: skeletal morphology; soft tissue morphology; mixed morphology including mandibular plane to hyoid bone (MP-H); and jaw soft tissue (JS) ratio; a novel ratio we defined, between the area of jaw and area of tongue with soft palate. JS ratio increased with AHI as well as MP-H. MP-H and JS ratio showed significant but weak correlation with apnea-hypopnea index. JS ratio was significantly associated with an increased risk for severe OSAHS, even after adjusting age and BMI, its odds ratio was the greatest among these variables. These results showed that mixed craniofacial, skeletal and soft tissue morphology are correlated with AHI, and JS ratio may be a useful parameters to explain the characteristics of OSAHS in male patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diverse neuronal subtypes develop distinctive morphologies of dendritic arbors that receive synaptic or sensory inputs. Dendritic arbors of many subtypes take on a polarized shape, and one underlying mechanism is unidirectionally biased elongation of dendritic branches. As reported herein, we found that Drosophila Crossveinless-c (Cv-c) was a key regulator for such directional growth. In the cv-c mutant, two subclass of multidendritic sensory neurons examined formed dorsally directed branches; however, dendritic branches had difficulty in growing along the anterior–posterior (A–P) body axis. Cv-c belongs to the family of Rho GTPase-activating proteins (RhoGAPs) and is the homolog of human tumor suppressor DLC1. The RhoGAP activity of Cv-c was required cell-autonomously for the A–P-oriented growth, and Cv-c elevated the GTPase activity of Rho1 and Cdc42 in a cell-free assay. Our analysis of genetic interactions suggested that Rho1 was the target of Cv-c in vivo. All of our results suggest that Cv-c contributes to sprouting and subsequent growth of the A–P-oriented branches through negative regulation of Rho1. We discuss a role of Cv-c in dendritic growth in response to environmental cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]