Volitional Control of Piloerection: Objective Evidence and Its Potential Utility in Neuroscience Research.

The volitional control of piloerection has been previously reported in a small subset of individuals. Although this ability may be useful to study the mechanism underlying piloerection, there is little existing research on this ability, neither objective evidence at a group-level, nor information about its stability under experimental constraints. The present study aimed to validate existing findings of voluntarily generated piloerection (VGP) and to examine its potential contribution to neuroscientific research based on objective evidence of this ability.

Type II Natural Killer T Cells that Recognize Sterol Carrier Protein 2 Are Implicated in Vascular Inflammation in the Rat Model of Systemic Connective Tissue Diseases.

We previously generated a rat model that developed systemic connective tissue diseases, including synovitis, myositis, and small-vessel vasculitis (SVV), and established a vascular endothelial cell-reactive T-cell clone, VASC-1, from the model. VASC-1 was determined to be a type II natural killer T-cell clone. In this study, we attempted to identify the antigen recognized by VASC-1.

Indium-Catalyzed Amide Allylation of N-Carbonyl Imides: Formation of Azaspiro-γ-lactones via Ring Opening-Reclosure.

A novel and facile synthesis of azaspiro-γ-lactones with a methylene-lactam framework from N-carbonyl imides is described. Mechanistic investigations provide evidence for a two-step reaction process involving ZnCl(2)-promoted addition of β-amido allylindium species followed by an unexpectedly molecular-sieves-mediated ring opening-reclosure concomitantly with the loss of an N-carbonyl unit.

Influence of trait empathy on the emotion evoked by sad music and on the preference for it.

Some people experience pleasant emotion when listening to sad music. Therefore, they can enjoy listening to it. In the current study, we aimed to investigate such apparently paradoxical emotional mechanisms and focused on the influence of individuals' trait empathy, which has been reported to associate with emotional responses to sad music and a preference for it.

Establishment of a vascular endothelial cell-reactive type II NKT cell clone from a rat model of autoimmune vasculitis.

We previously generated a rat model that spontaneously developed small vessel vasculitis (SVV). In this study, a T cell clone reactive with rat vascular endothelial cells (REC) was established and named VASC-1. Intravenous injection of VASC-1 induced SVV in normal recipients.

Music evokes vicarious emotions in listeners.

Why do we listen to sad music? We seek to answer this question using a psychological approach. It is possible to distinguish perceived emotions from those that are experienced. Therefore, we hypothesized that, although sad music is perceived as sad, listeners actually feel (experience) pleasant emotions concurrent with sadness.

Sad music induces pleasant emotion.

In general, sad music is thought to cause us to experience sadness, which is considered an unpleasant emotion. As a result, the question arises as to why we listen to sad music if it evokes sadness. One possible answer to this question is that we may actually feel positive emotions when we listen to sad music.

Mechanism of Fcγ receptor-mediated trogocytosis-based false-positive results in flow cytometry.

The whole blood erythrocyte lysis method is the most common protocol of sample preparation for flow cytometry (FCM). Although this method has many virtues, our recent study has demonstrated false-positive results when surface markers of monocytes were examined by this method due to the phenomenon called Fcγ receptor (FcγR)-mediated trogocytosis. In the present study, similar FcγR-mediated trogocytosis-based false-positive results have been demonstrated when granulocytes were focused on instead of monocytes.

Overexpression of TNF-α-converting enzyme in fibroblasts augments dermal fibrosis after inflammation.

TNF-α-converting enzyme (TACE) can cleave transmembrane proteins, such as TNF-α, TNF receptors, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands, to release the extracellular domains from the cell surface. Recent studies have suggested that overexpression of TACE may be associated with the pathogenesis of inflammation and fibrosis. To determine the roles of TACE in inflammation and fibrosis, TACE transgenic (TACE-Tg) mice, which overexpressed TACE systemically, were generated.