Effects of tongue cleaning on Ayurvedic digestive power and oral health-related quality of life: A randomized cross-over study

OBJECTIVES

The effect of tongue cleaning on digestive power is mentioned in Ayurvedic information sources. However, no study has yet evaluated this. We aimed to evaluate the effects of tongue cleaning on digestive power from Ayurvedic viewpoint, and on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in healthy adults.

DESIGN

Randomized cross-over.

INTERVENTIONS

We recruited healthy adults aged 20-60 years. After randomization, the immediate intervention group started tongue cleaning with a tongue scraper every morning for 4 weeks, and then waited for 4 weeks. The delayed intervention group initially waited for 4 weeks, and then started tongue cleaning in the same way.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We assessed the outcomes using the questionnaire on digestive power from Ayurvedic viewpoint, and the General Oral Health Assessment Index for OHRQoL. We estimated the effects of tongue cleaning using generalized estimating equations (GEE). We also conducted a sensitivity analysis, by comparing the changes in outcomes during the first 4 weeks of both groups.

RESULTS

Of 58 participants, 57 completed the study. In GEE analysis, tongue cleaning showed improvement in some components of Ayurvedic digestive power represented by fecal and body conditions. For example, the odds ratio for improvement of constipation was 2.80 (95% CI: 1.04-7.58). The General Oral Health Assessment Index score was significantly increased by 4.33 points (95% CI: 2.18-6.48) after tongue cleaning. In sensitivity analyses, the trends of the results were similar to the main GEE analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Tongue cleaning may be an effective method to improve digestive power and OHRQoL.

Thrombosis Prediction Based on Reference Ranges of Coagulation-Related Markers in Different Stages of Pregnancy

Introduction:

Careful monitoring of the hypercoagulable state is required during pregnancy. However, coagulation and fibrinolysis markers are not fully utilized because there are no reference values reflective of coagulation and fibrinolysis dynamics during pregnancy, which differ from the nonpregnant state.

Methods:

Changes in antithrombin (AT), fibrinogen (Fbg), prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2), thrombin–antithrombin complex (TAT), soluble fibrin (SF), D-dimer (DD), and protein S (PS) were investigated in healthy pregnant women, and reference ranges in the early, mid, late, and end stages of pregnancy were established.

Results:

The AT was essentially constant throughout pregnancy. The Fbg, F1+2, TAT, and DD increased significantly as pregnancy progressed. In contrast, SF did not show a significant increase throughout the entire pregnancy period. Total PS antigen and total PS activity showed a corresponding decrease from early gestation. When test data in 3 cases in which deep vein thrombosis or intrauterine fetal death occurred during pregnancy were compared to the established reference ranges, all of the cases had multiple markers with values that exceeded the reference ranges.

Conclusion:

Establishing reference ranges for each week could potentially make it possible to evaluate abnormalities of the coagulation and fibrinolysis systems during pregnancy. Of note, SF might be a useful marker that reflects thrombus formation during pregnancy. Larger-scale studies will be required to establish reference ranges for every gestational week.

Gate-Tunable Spin-Charge Conversion and the Role of Spin-Orbit Interaction in Graphene

The small spin-orbit interaction of carbon atoms in graphene promises a long spin diffusion length and the potential to create a spin field-effect transistor. However, for this reason, graphene was largely overlooked as a possible spin-charge conversion material. We report electric gate tuning of the spin-charge conversion voltage signal in single-layer graphene. Using spin pumping from an yttrium iron garnet ferrimagnetic insulator and ionic liquid top gate, we determined that the inverse spin Hall effect is the dominant spin-charge conversion mechanism in single-layer graphene. From the gate dependence of the electromotive force we showed the dominance of the intrinsic over Rashba spin-orbit interaction, a long-standing question in graphene research.

Polymerization of room-temperature ionic liquid monomers by electron beam irradiation with the aim of fabricating three-dimensional micropolymer/nanopolymer structures

A novel method for fabricating microsized and nanosized polymer structures from a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) on a Si substrate was developed by the patterned irradiation of an electron beam (EB). An extremely low vapor pressure of the RTIL, 1-allyl-3-ethylimidazolium bis((trifluoromethane)sulfonyl)amide, allows it to be introduced into the high-vacuum chamber of an electron beam apparatus to conduct a radiation-induced polymerization in the nanoregion. We prepared various three-dimensional (3D) micro/nanopolymer structures having high aspect ratios of up to 5 with a resolution of sub-100 nm. In addition, the effects of the irradiation dose and beam current on the physicochemical properties of the deposited polymers were investigated by recording the FT-IR spectra and Young's modulus. Interestingly, the overall shapes of the obtained structures were different from those prepared in our recent study using a focused ion beam (FIB) even if the samples were irradiated in a similar manner. This may be due to the different transmission between the two types of beams as discussed on the basis of the theoretical calculations of the quantum beam trajectories. Perceptions obtained in this study provide facile preparation procedures for the micro/nanostructures.

Bovine Arboviruses in Culicoides Biting Midges and Sentinel Cattle in Southern Japan from 2003 to 2013

Epizootic congenital abnormalities, encephalomyelitis and febrile illnesses in cattle caused by arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are prevalent in Japan. Causative viruses including orthobunyaviruses, orbiviruses and rhabdovirus are thought to be transmitted by Culicoides biting midges. Recently, the incursions of several arboviruses, potentially Culicoides-borne, were newly confirmed in Japan. However, their spread pattern and exact vector species are currently uncertain. Attempts to isolate arboviruses from Culicoides biting midges and sentinel cattle were conducted in Kagoshima, located at the southernmost end of the main islands of Japan, a potentially high-risk area for incursion of arboviral diseases and outbreak of endemic ones. Seventy-eight isolates comprising Akabane, Peaton and Sathuperi viruses of the genus Orthobunyavirus of the family Bunyaviridae, bluetongue virus serotype 16, D'Aguilar virus, Bunyip Creek virus and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus serotype 1 of the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae, a potentially novel rhabdovirus of the genus Ephemerovirus and unidentified orbivirus-like viruses were obtained from Culicoides biting midges and sentinel cattle between 2003 and 2013. Akabane, Sathuperi, D'Aguilar and Bunyip Creek viruses were selectively isolated from Culicoides oxystoma, suggesting this vector's responsibility for these arbovirus outbreaks. The results of virus isolation also implied that C. tainanus, C. jacobsoni and C. punctatus are competent for the transmission of bluetongue virus serotype 16, Peaton virus and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus serotype 1, respectively. Our monitoring in Culicoides biting midges and sentinel cattle detected the circulation of Akabane virus just prior to the accumulations of bovine congenital abnormalities and encephalomyelitis by it around study sites in 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2013. Silent circulations of the other arboviruses, including potentially new viruses, were also detected during the study period.

Fibulin-2 is involved in early extracellular matrix development of the outgrowing mouse mammary epithelium

Cell-matrix interactions control outgrowth of mammary epithelium during puberty and pregnancy. We demonstrate here that the glycoprotein fibulin-2 (FBLN2) is strongly associated with pubertal and early pregnant mouse mammary epithelial outgrowth. FBLN2 was specifically localized to the cap cells of the terminal end buds during puberty and to myoepithelial cells during very early pregnancy (days 2-3) even before morphological changes to the epithelium become microscopically visible, but was down-regulated thereafter. Exposure to exogenous oestrogen (E2) or E2 plus progesterone (P) increased Fbln2 mRNA expression in the pubertal gland, indicating hormonal control. FBLN2 was co-expressed and co-localised with the proteoglycan versican (VCAN) and co-localised with laminin (LN), while over-expression of FBLN2 in HC-11 cells increased cell adhesion to several extracellular matrix proteins including LN and fibronectin, but not collagens. Mammary glands from Fbln2 knockout mice showed no obvious phenotype but increased fibulin-1 (FBLN1) staining was detected, suggesting a compensatory mechanism by other fibulin family members. We hypothesise that similar to embryonic aortic smooth muscle development, FBLN2 and VCAN expression alters the cell-matrix interaction to allow mammary ductal outgrowth and development during puberty and to enable epithelial budding during pregnancy.