Hormonal and circuit mechanisms controlling female sexual behavior.

Sexual behavior is crucial for reproduction in many animals. In many vertebrates, females exhibit sexual behavior only during a brief period surrounding ovulation. Over the decades, studies have identified the roles of ovarian sex hormones, which peak in levels around the time of ovulation, and the critical brain regions involved in the regulation of female sexual behavior.

A functional cellular framework for sex and estrous cycle-dependent gene expression and behavior.

Sex hormones exert a profound influence on gendered behaviors. How individual sex hormone-responsive neuronal populations regulate diverse sex-typical behaviors is unclear. We performed orthogonal, genetically targeted sequencing of four estrogen receptor 1-expressing (Esr1) populations and identified 1,415 genes expressed differentially between sexes or estrous states.

Neural basis for estrous cycle-dependent control of female behaviors.

Females display changes in distinct behaviors along the estrous cycle. Levels of circulating ovarian sex steroid hormones peak around ovulation, which occur around estrus phase of the cycle. This increase of sex hormones is thought to be important for changes in behaviors, however, neural circuit mechanisms of periodic behavioral changes in females are not understood well.

Periodic Remodeling in a Neural Circuit Governs Timing of Female Sexual Behavior.

Behaviors are inextricably linked to internal state. We have identified a neural mechanism that links female sexual behavior with the estrus, the ovulatory phase of the estrous cycle. We find that progesterone-receptor (PR)-expressing neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) are active and required during this behavior.

[Basaloid Squamous Cell Carcinoma;Report of a Case].

We report a resected case of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSC). BSC is a rare type of malignant lung tumor. A 79-year-old woman had a 13 mm tumor in the left upper lobe on chest computed tomography (CT).

[Fetal Adenocarcinoma of the Lung].

We report a resected case of fetal adenocarcinoma. Fetal adenocarcinoma is a rare type of malignant lung tumor. A 53-year-old man had a 25 mm tumor in the right upper lobe on chest computed tomography.

[Growth Process of Cystic Lung Cancer Followed with Computed Tomography Findings Over 5 Years].

An estimated 2~16% of primary lung cancers form cavities with cases that form thin-walled cavities being comparatively rare. We treated a patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung with a small cystic shadow that showed no changes for 3 years. The cyst then suddenly grew larger, after which the cyst wall thickened over time and a thin-walled cavity was seen.

Clinical validity of the Japanese version of WAIS-III short forms: Adaptation for patients with mild neurocognitive disorder and dementia.

We investigated the Japanese WAIS-III short form utility in mild neurocognitive disorder and dementia. Our sample consisted of 108 old patients (ages: 65-89; mean age = 78.3).

Social Control of Hypothalamus-Mediated Male Aggression.

How environmental and physiological signals interact to influence neural circuits underlying developmentally programmed social interactions such as male territorial aggression is poorly understood. We have tested the influence of sensory cues, social context, and sex hormones on progesterone receptor (PR)-expressing neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) that are critical for male territorial aggression. We find that these neurons can drive aggressive displays in solitary males independent of pheromonal input, gonadal hormones, opponents, or social context.

Different effect of resveratrol to induction of apoptosis depending on the type of human cancer cells.

The effect of resveratrol on various human cancer cells was investigated with special focus on apoptotic cell death, in an attempt to further characterize its mechanism of action. There were great differences in the anti-viability effect of resveratrol between different types of human cancer cells. While the inhibition of cell viability by resveratrol was marked in U937 and MOLT-4 leukemia cells, resveratrol moderately inhibited cell viability in MCF-7 breast, HepG2 liver, and A549 lung cancer cells, and the effect was slight on cell viability in Caco-2, HCT116, and SW480 colon cancer cells.

Autoantibody profiles and their association with blood eosinophils in asthma and COPD.

Background: Autoimmune involvement in the pathogenesis of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been proposed, and autoantibodies are a hallmark of autoimmunity. This study aimed to compare the autoantibody profiles of asthma and COPD, and the relationship between autoantibodies and features of these diseases.

Methods: We recruited 110 asthma patients and 92 COPD patients for a prospective study.

The expression profile of filaggrin-2 in the normal and pathologic human oral mucosa.

The epithelial cells of the oral cavity show a remarkable degree of regional variation with respect to their morphology and keratinization status. In the oral cavity, the tongue and palate contain keratinizing stratified epithelia, while the buccal mucosa contains non-keratinizing stratified epithelia. We herein examined the expression of filaggrin-2, a member of the S100 fused-type protein family, in the oral mucosa.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with community-acquired, health-care-associated and hospital-acquired empyema.

Background And Aims: Patients with pneumonia, a common cause of empyema, are stratified based on their risk factors, and the treatment of empyema might benefit from this risk stratification.

Methods: The etiology, bacteriologic profile and outcome of patients diagnosed with empyema in Shinko Hospital between May 2005 and October 2013 were retrospectively studied. The patients were stratified according to whether they had community-acquired empyema (CAE), health-care-associated empyema (HCAE) or hospital-acquired empyema (HAE).

Thermal response of poly(ethoxyethyl glycidyl ether) grafted on gold surfaces probed on the basis of temperature-dependent water wettability.

Two series of thiol-modified poly(ethoxyethyl glycidyl ether) with different chain-end groups and molecular weights (PT-PEEGE-SH and Bu-PEEGE-SH), which undergo lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase separation in an aqueous milieu, are grafted onto gold substrates through Au-S bonding. The water wettability of the resultant polymer-tethered surface discontinuously varies with temperature, and this alteration of wettability is reversible according to the variation in temperature of the environment. For all the polymers examined, the transition temperature on surface, TC(surf), the temperature at which half the discontinuous change in surface wettability occurs, increases with the number-average molecular weight (M(n)).

Heparin induces apoptosis through suppression of AKt in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Background: Heparin is a polysulfated glycosaminoglycan that has been shown to have antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in addition to its anticoagulant effects.

Materials And Methods: The present work investigated the effects of unfractioned heparin (UFH) on cell growth and apoptosis in four oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines and the mechanism(s) underlying its actions using MTT assay, Annexin-V-FITC and Western blotting.

Results: Treatment with UFH resulted in significant reduction in cell viability and increase in apoptosis in three of the four tested cell lines.

[Influence of malalignment and malocclusion on mental and physical health-consciousness in senior high school students].

Objectives: Dental examinations and a questionnaire survey were carried out simultaneously in senior high schools to investigate influence of tooth misalignment and malocclusion on mental and physical health-consciousness of the students.

Methods: The questionnaire survey concerning health-consciousness was collected after the dental examination. The students were divided into three groups by their findings: "within a normal range"; "mild-", and "severe- misalignment and malocclusion".