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It is believed that makeup was invented not only for beauty but also to show power or divinity. Makeup and cosmetics have changed over time with change in materials, social structures, and living environments. Development of cosmetics has also advanced rapidly with the accelerated progress of measurement and analytical technology. In this chapter, we will look back at the original purposes of makeup and cosmetics, and study the functions of the human skin to view the future of the cosmetic science field comprehensively.

A 2 × 3 factorial feeding trial was conducted to determine effects of dietary Ca/P ratio and dietary microbial phytase on growth, mineral digestibility and vertebral mineralization in tiger puffer. The treatments consisted of three levels of Ca/P ratios (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5) combined either with phytase (2000 FTU kg−1 diet) or without supplementation, respectively. The Ca/P ratios were achieved by supplementing calcium at 0, 6 and 12 g kg−1 combined with the same level of inorganic P at 5 g kg−1. After a 50-day feeding trial, puffer fish fed the diet at low Ca/P ratio (0.5) together with phytase had significantly higher growth rate and feed intake (FI) than other groups. Both dietary Ca/P ratio and phytase supplement were independent effects on plasma minerals and alkaline phosphatase. Interactive effect between both dietary treatments was observed on P and Zn contents in vertebrae and whole body. P and Zn digestibilities tended to increase with increased Ca/P ratio from 0.5 to 1.0, especially when phytase was supplemented. In conclusion, fish fed a diet with highest Ca/P ratio (1.5) showed the poorest growth performance and nutrients utilization. Dietary Ca/P ratio of 0.5 (without Ca supplement) with 2000 FTU phytase per kg would be the optimum combination in the diet of tiger puffer.

A set of scaled Langevin equations is proposed to study a long time tail of correlation functions for two model systems (Type I and Type II). Each system is composed of elements which are grouped into clusters according to dynamical activations for external forces. The clusters in Type I are characterized by linear scaling rules in repetitive operations, whereas the clusters in Type II are characterized by different kinds of linear scaling rules in the repetitive operations. We obtain a new linear scaling relation for a weight factor for the clusters in Type II, as a condition for the correlation function to behave a long time tail.

We investigated the role of stratum corneum (SC) trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like serine proteases in the degradation of desmoglein-1 (DSG-1) in the SC sheet. DSG-1, whose presence in the SC sheet was confirmed by Western blot analysis, was degraded completely during incubation of the SC sheet in Tris buffer. The degradation of DSG-1 was inhibited by the addition of protease inhibitors, such as aprotinin or a mixture of leupeptin and chymostatin. Either leupeptin or chymostatin alone did not inhibit its degradation. These results indicated that both trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like serine proteases are involved in the degradation of DSG-1. We further examined the activities of the two proteases in the SC obtained from patients with ichthyosis vulgaris, in whom SC desquamation is abnormal. The enzymatic activities measured using synthetic substrates were significantly decreased in these ichthyotic SC samples. This result supports the idea that these proteases play an important role in normal SC desquamation.

The effects of protease inhibitors on cell dissociation were studied in vitro in order to examine the involvement of proteases in stratum corneum desquamation. Stratum corneum sheet (peeled from human backs after sunburn) was incubated in a detergent mixture containing 8 mM N,N-dimethyldodecylamine oxide, 2 mM sodium lauryl sulphate and 60 micrograms/ml kanamycin with or without protease inhibitors, and the number of released cells was counted after incubation for 48 h. Cell dissociation was inhibited strongly by antipain or aprotinin, but not at all by N-[N-(L-3-transcarboxyoxiran-2-carbonyl)-L-leucyl]-agmatin, N-ethylmaleimide or pepstatin, which suggests that only serine proteases are associated with desquamation. Furthermore, leupeptin and chymostatin each reduced cell dissociation about half as effectively as aprotinin or antipain, while a mixture of leupeptin and chymostatin prevented stratum corneum dissociation as potently as antipain or aprotinin. In addition, the activity of chymotrypsin-like protease in scaly skin was higher than that in normal skin, as we have previously found for trypsin-like protease. These results suggest that both trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like serine proteases are involved in stratum corneum desquamation.

Stratum corneum lipid morphology was evaluated using attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) in normal skin and surfactant-induced scaly skin to evaluate skin barrier function. To evaluate the degree of order of the intercellular lipid alkyl chain conformation, we measured the wavenumbers (frequency shifts) of the symmetrical and asymmetrical C-H stretching vibrations observed at approximately 2850 cm-1 and 2920 cm-1, respectively. There was a correlation between the wave-number and transepidermal water loss in normal skin. However, no difference was observed in surfactant-induced scaly skin from the baseline value in the wavenumbers of the C-H vibrations. These results suggest that in normal skin, lipid morphology plays an important role in the barrier function of the stratum corneum. However, the decline in barrier function in scaly skin is not due to conformational disorder of the lipid alkyl chain.

In order to identify the endogenous protease associated with stratum corneum (SC) desquamation, we examined properties of proteases in the stratum corneum of normal human skin. SC were obtained by tape stripping, washed in toluene and then dried. The proteolytic activity in SC was measured using peptidyl 4-methyl-coumaryl-7-amides (MCAs). The SC was dispersed uniformly in the reaction mixture with dimethylformamide and Triton X-100 and incubated with the peptidyl MCAs. The protease in the SC hydrolysed both Boc-Phe-Ser-Arg-MCA and Boc-Gln-Ala-Arg-MCA (substrates for trypsin) very effectively. The hydrolytic activity was inhibited by the serine protease inhibitors diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP), aprotinin, antipain and leupeptin, but not by chymostatin, a chymotrypsin inhibitor. These results show that one or more trypsin-like serine protease is present in the SC of normal human skin. Casein-acrylamide electrophoresis showed that the molecular weight of this serine protease was about 30 kDa. We have previously shown that cells dissociate from human SC sheets in a detergent mixture (N,N-dimethyldodecylamine oxide and sodium lauryl sulphate). This cell dissociation was inhibited by aprotinin and leupeptin. In addition, the proteolytic activity in the outer SC was higher than that in the inner SC, and the activity in the SC of scaly skin induced by SLS treatment was higher than that of untreated skin. These results strongly suggest that the trypsin-like serine protease described here is involved in SC desquamation.

The tolerance of Perna viridis to a high inorganic mercury (Hg) exposure was determined based on its accumulation, depuration and distribution. The Hg accumulation of the mussel was conducted for a 4-day semi-static exposure at a ‘very’ high Hg concentration (100 ig/L). None of the mussels died after the experimental period, indicating that the elevated level of inorganic Hg exposure was not toxic to P. viridis. Following the 4-day exposure, the Hg concentrations were higher in the gill and byssus than in the mantle, foot, gonad and muscle (with bioconcentration factor values being between 13 and 625). The Hg distribution among the different soft tissues after 11 days of depuration was almost similar with that after Hg exposure. The high Hg levels found in the byssus and different soft tissues after the depuration indicated that Hg accumulated in the different ST was tightly bound to metallothionein and it was not easily mobilized. The Hg distribution in the byssus and in the different soft tissues could be due to their differing capacities for Hg accumulation and depuration. Since the soft tissues of P. viridis can accumulate inorganic Hg in high concentrations after exposing to a ‘very’ high level of inorganic Hg, it has a high bioaccumulative capability and a high tolerance to inorganic Hg. The mussel byssus was found to have the highest depuration rate coefficient, indicating that it could act as one of the excretion routes for Hg and it can be proposed as a sensitive biomonitoring material for Hg. The fecal materials released by the mussel had elevated levels of Hg, indicating that the mussels acted as a Hg retention mechanism in the coastal ecosystem.

Stratum corneum sphingolipids are of particular importance in maintaining the water permeability barrier of mammalian epidermis. Free amino acids also play an important role in water retention in the stratum corneum. To clarify the way in which these substances affect scaly skin, stratum corneum sphingolipids and free amino acids collected from artificially-induced scaly skin were analysed. Scaly skin was induced by tape stripping. The total amount of sphingolipids was quantified by gas chromatography and five of sphingolipid fractions were isolated and quantified by thin-layer chromatography. Free amino acids were analysed using a high-speed amino analyser. The total amount of sphingolipid in scaly skin did not differ statistically from that in control skin. However, a significant change in the distribution of the five sphingolipid species was observed in scaly skin and the total amount of amino acids was decreased in scaly skin. These results suggest that the distribution of these five types of sphingolipid and the total amount of amino acids are responsible for scaly skin.

Clinically we have noted that the skin of patients treated with long-term oral etretinate becomes uniformly soft and smooth to touch, like facial skin that becomes smoother and less wrinkled following treatment with topical tretinoin. This suggests that retinoids, whether used systemically or topically, alter the physical properties of the skin, particularly of the stratum corneum (SC). To study the influence of retinoids on the SC, we serially assessed the functional properties of the SC non-invasively in retinoid-treated humans and experimental animals. SC hydration and barrier function were assessed by measurement of high-frequency conductance and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), respectively. Daily application of topical retinoic acid creams was found to rapidly induce a time- and dose-dependent, linear increase in SC hydration of the forearm skin of healthy adults over a 2-week period and to compromise its water barrier function in a similar fashion. Systemic administration of high-dosage etretinate, 4 or 8 mg/kg/day, to guinea-pigs also induced dose-dependent increases in both SC hydration and TEWL measured on the plantar skin after 1 month. Moreover, in the animals given etretinate 4 mg/kg/day we confirmed a slight but significant decrease in the number of cell layers of the plantar SC. Likewise, patients with various dermatoses began to show similar functional changes of the SC in the uninvolved skin of the flexor surface of the forearms 3 weeks after the start of oral etretinate treatment, consisting of 50 mg daily for 2 weeks, followed by gradual dose tapering.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In this paper, we propose a method for distinction between handwritten and machine-printed characters with no need to locate positions of characters or text lines. We call the proposed method psilaspectrum-based local fluctuation detection method. The method transforms local regions in document images into power spectrum to extract feature values which represent fluctuations caused by handwriting. We employ a multilayer perceptron for the distinction. We feed the obtained feature values to a preliminarily optimized multilayer perceptron (MLP), and the MLP yields likelihood of handwriting. We prepare a document image which has randomly aligned characters for an experiment. The experimental result shows that our method can distinguish handwritten and machine-printed characters with no need to locate positions of characters or text lines.

In this paper, we propose a method to distinguish between handwritten and machine-printed characters with no need to locate character or text-line positions. We transform a local region in a document image into frequency domain to extract feature values including fluctuations caused by handwriting. We feed the feature values to an optimized multilayer perceptron (MLP) to get likelihood of handwriting. We call this method the spectrum-domain local fluctuation detection (SDLFD) method. Experimental results show that our method distinguishes handwritten characters from machine-printed ones with no need of text-line position information. We also found that the scheme is robust against the change in scanning resolution.

To perform less invasive neurosurgery, a telecontrolled micromanipulator system has been developed and applied to clinical situations. Basic experiments for telesurgery have also been conducted.A cadaver head was used to carry out surgical simulation of the opening of the sylvian fissure and third ventriculostomy. After obtaining permission from the Ethical Committee of Shinshu University School of Medicine, part of the recurrent meningioma in a 45-year-old man was removed. As basic experiment for telesurgery, surgical simulation was also conducted in a rat brain with the operating console transported to a hospital 40 km distant from the University.Opening of the sylvian fissure and third ventriculostomy were accurately performed. Tumour removal in a patient with recurrent meningioma was safely achieved. Surgical simulation in the rat brain was accurately and correctly carried out, operated on from a hospital 40 km distant.The NeuRobot, telecontrolled micromanipulator system, can be used as a tool for less invasive neurosurgery.

A CPU using a high performance poly-silicon TFT is successfully fabricated on a plastic film substrate by a TFT transfer technology onto a plastic film substrate we developed. No performance degradation by the transfer process was observed, and we confirmed the CPU operation at the frequency of more than 10MHz with a power source voltage 33V.

The formulation and impact dynamic response of an n-link flexible manipulator systems using stress wave propagation theory is discussed. The usual method for deriving the intermittent motion of multibody systems has some limitations, such as the need to specify the value of the coefficient of restitution. In our analysis we apply wave propagation theory, which takes into account the mechanical properties and the initial velocities of the impacting bodies, and extend this theory to multibody systems. In the analysis, the manipulator links are modeled as beams, and simple one-dimensional theory is used for the longitudinal displacements and torsion, while Bernoulli-Euler theory is used for flexural displacements. We only consider the linear elasticity of the impacting body and neglect the plasticity and fracture. By using wave propagation theory, we can obtain the impact stress history, and realize that the coefficient of restitution depends on the dimension or shape of the bodies.

We measured six stratum corneum sphingolipid species (ceramides 1-6) in 26 males and 27 females, and found a significant change in their percentage composition only among female subjects of different age groups. There was a significant increase in ceramide 1 and 2 with a corresponding decrease in ceramide 3 and 6 from prepubertal age to adulthood. Thereafter the ratio of ceramide 2 to total sphingolipids decreased with age in contrast to ceramide 3 which showed an increase. Such a pattern of change in the aging population is different from that observed in scaly skin experimentally induced by tape stripping. The present results suggest a significant influence of female hormones on the composition of stratum corneum sphingolipids. Moreover, the different patterns of change in sphingolipid composition of stratum corneum lipids between scales from inflammatory skin and those from aged skin also suggest that epidermal biosynthesis of sphingolipids is influenced by epidermal proliferative activity.

Constituents of Galium spurium var. echinospermon were examined and the new anthraquinones, 8-hydroxy-3-methoxy-7-methyl-1,2-methylenedioxy-9,10-anthraquinone and 2,8-dihydroxy-1,3-dimethoxy-7-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone, were isolated along with known anthraquinones. The structures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data.

A 64-year-old man, who had undergone clipping surgery 18 years before for a ruptured anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm, presented with mild aphasia. A computerized tomography (CT) scan showed a subcortical hemorrhage in the left temporal lobe, and a high density large mass at the ACoA. Neuro-imaging study revealed a giant thrombosed ACoA aneurysm. Thrombectomy and neck clipping were successfully performed, using the interhemispheric approach. The patient was discharged without additional neurological deficits. A long-term follow-up study is thus considered necessary after neck clipping of a ruptured aneurysm.

We report a rare case of periosteal osteosarcoma of the mandible in a 15-year-old girl. Extension of the tumour into the bone marrow by way of the periodontal ligament is demonstrated.

Summary: Two cases of synovial chondromatosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) are presented, including correlation of CT and MR imaging characteristics with surgical and pathologic findings. The usefulness of CT and MR imaging in the diagnosis of TMJ disorders is discussed.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In order to clarify the incidence and evolution of disk displacement in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in children, we performed a longitudinal analysis in 18 subjects. Some investigators have suggested that sonography can provide information about the articular disk position of the TMJ. The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of sonography for revealing internal derangement of the TMJ in elementary school children compared with our standard of reference, MR imaging and helical CT. METHODS: Eighteen children were examined using both sonography and MR imaging or helical CT or both. The sonographically revealed distance between the articular capsule and the lateral surface of the mandibular condyle was measured and compared with that obtained by MR or helical CT scanning. RESULTS: Compared with our MR/CT standard of reference, sonography revealed a sensitivity of 83%, a specificity of 96%, and an accuracy of 92% for identifying disk displacement (defined as a distance of 4 mm or more between the articular capsule and the lateral surface of the mandibular condyle). CONCLUSION: Although sonography's sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the diagnosis of disk displacement were slightly inferior to those of MR or helical CT, we assert it is a useful imaging method for longitudinal investigations of a large group of elementary school children. Internal derangement of the TMJ should be suspected if sonography reveals a distance between the articular capsule and the lateral surface of the mandibular condyle of 4 mm or more.

We analyzed 7 pituitary adenomas in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Their incidence was 1.6% among 450 patients with pituitary adenomas which had been treated surgically in our department between 1978 and 1999. The age, gender, symptoms, type of hormone secretion, pathological and operative findings in the MEN1 patients were not apparently different from those in the non-MEN1 patients. Incidence of non-functioning pituitary adenomas, however, was more frequently encountered in our series than that in previous reports among Caucasian people. One patient who had 5 previous operations for the MEN tumors died following postoperative subarachnoid hemorrhage. Four of the seven patients presented initial symptoms related to pituitary adenomas and increased serum Ca level was retrospectively recognized in three of the four at the time of treatment for the pituitary adenomas.

2-Methylnaphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-dione (FNQ3) has been reported to be more cytotoxic to human malignant tumor cell lines than are the corresponding normal epithelial cells. Therefore, we examined the dose response of FNQ3 against human cervical cancer HeLa cells in culture. When 1.25 mg/ml FNQ3 was applied, apoptosis was induced, as determined by an immunohistochemical staining of fragmented genome DNA and cell profiles. Significant inhibition of Bcl-2 oncogene protein expression by the same concentration of FNQ3 also was demonstrated by an immunohistochemical staining method to visualize the expressed cells and Western blot in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Flow-cytometric spectra showed S-phase arrest in cell cycles and the appearance of sub-G1 phase consistent with apoptosis. On the other hand, concentrations of 5 microg/ml or more of FNQ3 induced necrosis. These results show that FNQ3 may act as an antitumor agent to induce apoptosis by affecting Bcl-2 expression and cell cycles, or necrosis as the result of primary mitochondrial injuries.

Patients who have undergone frontotemporal craniotomy occasionally complain of scalp deformity in the anterior temporal area. This occurs as a result of inappropriate reconstruction of the temporal muscle and repair of the bone defect at the key hole and surrounding skull. Although several methods have been developed to prevent skin indentation on burr holes located over the convexity, satisfactory cosmetic repair of the key hole remains difficult because of its complicated bone curvature. To prevent such postoperative deformity, the authors designed a button made of hydroxyapatite ceramics to fit the key hole easily. This new, biocompatible "key-hole button" is shaped to alleviate the deformity of the temple by filling the bone defect in a more natural way. The specifications of this device and its clinical application are described.

A monolithic method of implementing VHF filters with transmission zeros is presented. The transmission zeros are obtained using a modified leapfrog simulation method realized without floating capacitors that does not require summing circuits inside the feedback loops. The integrators used are balanced negative impedance converter (NIC) integrators with grounded capacitors, which do not require p-n-p transistors and are suited for low-voltage applications. A low-pass filter with a cutoff frequency of 100 MHz and with a transmission zero at 166 MHz designed and built in an integrated circuit form showed good results, confirming the feasibility of the method. >

In each of 3 patients referred for computed tomographic examinations of the temporomandibular joint, a gas collection was observed in the inferior space of the joint. The gas was observed on the posterosuperior surface of the mandibular condyle in the open mouth position in each patient. Each of 2 patients had saucer-shaped bone resorption of the mandibular condyle adjacent to the gas; 1 patient had no remarkable bone abnormality. A history of temporomandibular joint puncture or facial trauma was denied by all 3 patients.

We often measure LC50 values (median lethal concentrations) of chemicals to evaluate their acute toxicities on fish. Some chemicals, however, pesticides, e.g., cause vertebral deformities at less than their LC50’s (Baba et al. 1974, 1977a, b). We therefore sometimes cannot evaluate the acute toxicities of chemicals on vertebral deformity at less than their LC50's. Once a fish has a vertebral deformity, it can be assumed that the fish will die or will be more susceptible to predation by predators. Thus, we need to evaluate the acute toxicities of chemicals on fish vertebral deformity as well.

We investigated the role of stratum corneum (SC) trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like serine proteases in the degradation of desmoglein-1 (DSG-1) in the SC sheet. DSG-1, whose presence in the SC sheet was confirmed by Western blot analysis, was degraded completely during incubation of the SC sheet in Tris buffer. The degradation of DSG-1 was inhibited by the addition of protease inhibitors, such as aprotinin or a mixture of leupeptin and chymostatin. Either leupeptin or chymostatin alone did not inhibit its degradation. These results indicated that both trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like serine proteases are involved in the degradation of DSG-1. We further examined the activities of the two proteases in the SC obtained from patients with ichthyosis vulgaris, in whom SC desquamation is abnormal. The enzymatic activities measured using synthetic substrates were significantly decreased in these ichthyotic SC samples. This result supports the idea that these proteases play an important role in normal SC desquamation.

The preoperative factors predicting the outcome of surgical treatment for constrictive pericarditis were investigated in 22 patients with constrictive pericarditis who underwent pericardiectomy. The NYHA functional class was improved in nine patients after surgery (improved group), but not in the other 13 patients (unimproved group). Preoperative right and left heart catheterization data and echocardiograms were compared between these two groups. Right atrial pressure (RAP) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) were significantly higher in the unimproved group. The left atrial diameter (LAD) measured by echocardiography was significantly greater in the unimproved group. These results indicate that pericardiectomy will cause a worsened immediate outcome in patients with severe pericardial constriction. LAD was the most useful parameter in predicting the ineffectiveness of the pericardiectomy. If the borderline value of LAD is taken as 40 mm, the sensitivity and specificity predicting ineffective surgery were 92% and 89%, respectively. RAP and PCWP could not separate the two groups satisfactorily. Pericardiectomy should be performed before the pericardial constriction progresses, and before LAD reaches 40 mm.

Guinea-pig macrophages respond to ovalbumin (OA) complexes of IgG antibodies with the extracellular release of arachidonic acid (AA). The AA release by OA complex of IgG2 antibody (OA gamma 2) was found to occur more intensively than did that by OA complex of IgG2 antibody (OA gamma 1). To clarify the roles of the Fc gamma receptor (Fc gamma R) for IgG2 alone (Fc gamma 2R) and that for both IgG1 and IgG2 (Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R) in these responses, the effects of Fab's of monoclonal anti-Fc gamma 2R and anti-Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R antibodies were examined. Anti-Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R Fab' inhibited completely the response to OA gamma 1. The response to OA gamma 2, on the other hand, was not inhibited by anti-Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R Fab', but by anti-Fc gamma 2R Fab'. By cross-linking of the Fc gamma Rs, the ability of Fc gamma 2R to trigger the AA release was found to be 2-3 times greater than its Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R counterpart. The Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R-mediated response to OA gamma 1 was completely inhibited with EGTA. In contrast, the Fc gamma 2R-mediated response to OA gamma 2 was not affected at all with EGTA, though it disappeared on depletion of the intracellular Ca2+ of macrophages with EGTA and Ionomycin. In conclusion, the mechanisms of Fc gamma 1/gamma 2R- and Fc gamma 2R-mediated signal transduction leading to the AA release differ from each other in the dependency upon the Ca influx.