Effects of the Community Cats Program on Population Control, Migration and Welfare Status of Free-Roaming Cats in Tokyo, Japan.

The community cats program (CCP), which includes trap-neuter-return activities, has been promoted in Japan to reduce the population of free-roaming cats without harmful effects on their welfare. To ascertain the effects of the CCP, a two-year route census of free-roaming cats was conducted in an area with CCP and the other area without CCP in urban Tokyo, Japan. The estimated number of cats was lower in the CCP area than the non-CCP area, but there was no difference in the rate of decline in cat populations between areas.

Difference in TiO₂ photocatalytic mechanism between rutile and anatase studied by the detection of active oxygen and surface species in water.

Various kinds of TiO2 photocatalysts have been practically applied in various fields. Knowing the exact surface properties is a prerequisite to develop further and efficient applications. However, the cause of the essential difference in the activities of the two polymorphs of TiO2, rutile and anatase, has not been clearly elucidated yet.

Association between characteristics of cats and satisfaction of owners who adopted cats from an animal hospital in Japan.

A follow-up questionnaire survey was conducted with 29 cat owners who adopted cats from an animal hospital in Japan. Physical characteristics were found to be important factors for the owners when choosing a cat. There were significant differences between impression of the cat for the owners at present and images of their ideal cats, and the levels of aggression and activeness of the cats at present were rated higher than their ideal cats.

Androgen induces production of male effect pheromone in female goats.

Previously we showed that the primer pheromone responsible for the "male effect" was produced in specific skin regions of castrated male goats by androgen treatments. In the present study, we examined whether androgen can also induce production of the male effect pheromone in female goats. Capsules containing dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or testosterone (T) were subcutaneously implanted into six ovariectomized (OVX) goats for 28 days.

Gene expression profiles linked to the hormonal induction of male-effect pheromone synthesis in goats (Capra hircus).

The male effect is a well-known phenomenon in female sheep and goats whereby a pheromone-induced activation of reproductive function occurs. However, the molecule(s) involved in this phenomenon are unknown. We investigated gene expression profiles for the induction of male effect pheromone synthesis using a PCR-based cDNA subtraction strategy.

Early weaning augments neuroendocrine stress responses in mice.

Weaning is one of the most important events in early mammalian life. We investigated the influence of early weaning on the development of neuroendocrine responses to stress in mice. Our study indicated that precocious weaning augments anxiety and aggressiveness in mice, and the lack of mother-pup interaction from postnatal days 15-21 may account for this phenomenon.

The influence of orifice sealing with various filling materials on coronal leakage.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the sealing ability of materials filled in the orifice after root canal treatment. A total of 100 root canal-treated teeth were divided into six experimental groups: 1, Protect Liner F (PL); 2, Panavia F (PF); 3, DC core-Light cured (DCL); 4, DC core-Chemically cured (DCC); 5, Super-EBA (SE); 6, Ketac (KC). The materials were filled--to a depth of 4 mm--in the coronal part of the root canals, and evaluated for microleakage.

Hormonal control of grooming behavior in domestic goats.

In this study, further documentation of the modulation of self-grooming by testosterone was provided by an experiment which showed that self oral grooming in long-term castrated male goats of the dwarf Shiba breed was significantly down-regulated to one-third of the baseline grooming rate by testosterone supplementation. Observations on grooming in gonadally intact female Shiba goats in the summer (July) and in the fall (October) showed that the oral grooming rate was significantly higher in the fall, occurring at about twice the rate in the summer. The female oral grooming rate in the fall was the same as the baseline rate of castrated males before testosterone supplementation.

Testosterone-dependent primer pheromone production in the sebaceous gland of male goat.

To test the hypothesis that the primer pheromone responsible for inducing the "male effect" is produced in the sebaceous gland androgen dependently, we examined the correlation between morphological changes of sebaceous glands and the pheromone activity in skin samples taken from castrated goats that had been treated with testosterone. Five castrated goats were implanted s.c.