Unsaturated fatty acid salts remove biofilms on dentures.

Candidiasis-causing Candida sp. forms biofilms with various oral bacteria in the dentures of the elderly, making it harder to kill and remove the microorganism due to the extracellular polymeric substances. We found that biofilms on dentures can effectively be removed by immersion in an unsaturated fatty acid salt solution. Using optical coherence tomography to observe the progression of biofilm removal by the fatty acid salt solution, we were able to determine that the removal was accompanied by the production of gaps at the interface between the biofilm and denture resin. Furthermore, microstructural electron microscopy observations and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry elucidated the site of action, revealing that localization of the fatty acid salt at the biofilm/denture-resin interface is an important factor.

Synthesis of azahelicene N-oxide by palladium-catalyzed direct C-H annulation of a pendant (Z)-bromovinyl side chain.

Driving benzene round the twist: Azahelicene derivatives were synthesized in high yields by utilizing palladium-catalyzed C-H annulation reactions. Functionalization at the C5 position in 6-azahelicene by using palladium-catalyzed C-H arylation also gave coupling products in good yields. A tandem intra- and intermolecular double C-H coupling reaction was performed to give a functionalized helicene in a one-pot procedure.

Analysis of the relationship between muscle sympathetic nerve activity and cardiac 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine uptake in patients with Parkinson's disease.

To analyze the correlation between muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and cardiac (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), we measured both parameters in 14 PD patients who were 51 to 82 years of age (mean, 63.1 +/- 8.7 years). The duration of PD was 2 to 26 years, and the disability level (modified Hoehn and Yahr stage) ranged from 2.0 to 4.0 (mean, 3.2 +/- 0.5). MSNA was recorded from the peroneal nerve fascicles using microneurographic methods, and then cardiac MIBG scintigraphy was performed within 1 month. We analyzed the correlation between the standardized MSNA, expressed as a percentage of the predicted value based on control subject data, and the heart-to-mediastinum ratio (H/M) or washout ratio (WR) from early and delayed MIBG images. The relationships between disease duration or disability and MSNA, the H/M ratio, or the WR were also analyzed. No significant correlations were found between MSNA and H/M ratio or WR. Although MSNA was inversely correlated with disease duration and with disability level, neither the H/M ratio nor the WR showed a significant correlation with disease duration or disability level. Because MSNA and MIBG abnormalities were not related, functional changes in addition to organic changes in cardiac sympathetic nerve endings may result in abnormal uptake of MIBG in Parkinson's disease. .