Marked pointing facilitates learning part names: A test of lexical constraint versus social pragmatic accounts of word learning.

The empirical study of word learning is driven by a theoretical debate between lexical constraint and social-pragmatic accounts; it has still not been determined which of these two best explains the evidence. We investigated whether the markedness of a pointing accompanying a verbal reference could help to learn a part name. Participants were 35 two-and-a-half-year-olds, 42 four-and-a-half-year-olds, and 38 undergraduate university students in Japan.

Ostensive gaze shifting changes referential intention in word meanings: An examination of children's learning of part names.

Learning part names, such as hands of a clock, can be a challenge for children because of the whole object assumption; that is, a child will assume that a given label refers to the whole object (e.g., a clock) rather than the object part (e.

Time-lapse observations to analyze the effects of assisted hatching.

Purpose: Assisted hatching (AH) is an artificial disruption of the zona pellucida with the aim of facilitating embryo implantation. We used time-lapse observations of mouse embryos to examine the effect of AH in mouse blastocysts.

Methods: AH techniques were performed with acid Tyrode's solution.

Regioselective intramolecular [3+2] annulation of allene-nitrones.

The regioselective intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the phenylsulfonylallene-nitrone derivatives has been developed. This reaction showed that the distal double bond of the allene exclusively reacted with the nitrone group to produce the bicyclic isoxazolidine derivatives regardless of the substitution pattern on the allenyl moiety.

Evaluation of the safety of time-lapse observations for human embryos.

Purpose: To assess the effects of light from an integrated optical microscope and evaluate the safety of time-lapse observations using a built-in microscope incubator.

Methods: We prospectively compared the fertilization rate and embryonic morphology after intracytoplasmic sperm injection between embryos cultured with time-lapse observations every 15 min in an incubator with an integrated optical microscope and embryos with intermittent observations (once a day) in conventional incubators.

Results: No significant differences were observed in the fertilization rate (57.

[Simple and rapid microbiological method for determination of residual antibacterials in meat].

A simple and rapid screening method using bioassay for the simultaneous analysis of antibacterials (penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides, tetracyclines, quinolones, etc.) in meat has been developed. A 5 g sample was homogenized with 5 mL of methanol, and the homogenate was centrifuged for 10 min with 3,000 rpm.

Composition and structure of the centromeric region of rice chromosome 8.

Understanding the organization of eukaryotic centromeres has both fundamental and applied importance because of their roles in chromosome segregation, karyotypic stability, and artificial chromosome-based cloning and expression vectors. Using clone-by-clone sequencing methodology, we obtained the complete genomic sequence of the centromeric region of rice (Oryza sativa) chromosome 8. Analysis of 1.

Physical maps and recombination frequency of six rice chromosomes.

We constructed physical maps of rice chromosomes 1, 2, and 6-9 with P1-derived artificial chromosome (PAC) and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones. These maps, with only 20 gaps, cover more than 97% of the predicted length of the six chromosomes. We submitted a total of 193 Mbp of non-overlapping sequences to public databases.