Characteristics of pectens in diurnal and nocturnal birds and a new functional proposal relating to non-visual opsins.

The pecten is a fold-structured projection at the ocular fundus in bird eyes, showing morphological diversity between the diurnal and nocturnal species. However, its biological functions remain unclear. This study investigated the morphological and histological characteristics of pectens in wild birds.

Wearable sensor device-based detection of decreased heart rate variability in Parkinson's disease.

The evidence that heart rate variability (HRV) decreases during early Parkinson's disease (PD) largely depends on electrocardiogram data. In this study, we examined HRV in PD using wearable sensors and assessed various evaluation methods for detecting disease-related alterations. We evaluated 27 patients with PD and 23 disease controls.

The wide-ranging clinical and genetic features in Japanese families with valosin-containing protein proteinopathy.

Mutations in the valosin-containing protein (VCP) gene are known to cause various neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we report 8 Japanese patients [6 men, 2 women; median age at onset: 49.5 (range, 35-58) years] from 5 unrelated families with VCP missense mutations.

Difference in cardiovascular response during orthostatic stress in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy.

Although orthostatic hypotension is more prominent in multiple system atrophy (MSA) than in Parkinson's disease (PD), there is no study comparing the degree of decrease in total peripheral resistance and cardiac response during orthostatic stress between both diseases. In this study, we examined whether there is a difference in cardiovascular response between MSA and PD. We examined the results of the head-up tilt test in 68 patients with MSA, 28 patients with cardiac non-denervated PD, and 70 patients with cardiac denervated PD whose total peripheral resistance after 60° tilting was lower than the value at 0°.

Analysis of Pattern Formation by Colored Petri Nets With Quantitative Regulation of Gene Expression Level.

Modeling and simulation are becoming indispensable tools for studying multicellular events such as pattern formation during embryonic development. In this paper, we propose a new approach for analyzing multicellular biological phenomena by combining colored hybrid Petri nets (ColHPNs) with newly devised biological experiments that can control level of a gene quantitatively. With this approach, we analyzed patterning of the boundary cells in the Drosophila large intestine, where one-cell-wide domain of boundary cells differentiate through Delta-Notch signaling.

A nerve conduction study predicts the prognosis of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: To clarify the relationship between nerve conduction study (NCS) and prognosis in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: We included 190 patients with sporadic ALS. We used onset age, sex, onset site (bulbar vs.

Association of orthostatic blood pressure with the symptoms of orthostatic hypotension and cognitive impairment in patients with multiple system atrophy.

The degree and frequency of orthostatic hypotension (OH) are high in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA); however, the association of orthostatic blood pressure (BP) with the symptoms of OH and cognitive impairment in these patients remains unclear. The aim of this study was to clarify whether absolute BP and/or changes in BP during standing are related to OH symptoms and cognitive impairment in patients with MSA. Thirty-two patients with MSA were examined using the head-up tilt and cognitive function tests.

Relationship between cardiac parasympathetic dysfunction and the anteroposterior diameter of the medulla oblongata in multiple system atrophy.

Purpose: Neurodegeneration of the nucleus ambiguus and the dorsal vagal motor nucleus has been implicated in cardiac parasympathetic dysfunction in multiple system atrophy (MSA). The nucleus ambiguus and the dorsal vagal motor nucleus, which are located in the medulla oblongata (MO), control the autonomic-specifically, the parasympathetic-functions of the body. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between cardiac parasympathetic dysfunction and the anteroposterior diameter of the MO in MSA by quantitatively analyzing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcome measures.

Impact of orthostatic hypotension on wheelchair use in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Wheelchair use is an important indicator of disease progression in Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we investigated whether orthostatic hypotension (OH) affects the time to wheelchair use. We examined 33 PD patients with OH and 95 without OH.

Anti-ganglioside complex antibody profiles in a recurrent complicated case of GQ1b-seronegative miller fisher syndrome and Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis: a case report.

Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) and Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE) are a group of autoimmune neurological disorders (GBS spectrum disorder) that rarely recur. Recently, anti-ganglioside complex antibodies (GSC-Abs) were identified in patients with GBS spectrum disorder. However, there has been no case report describing GSC-Abs profiles in a recurrent case showing different phenotypes.

The abdominal skin of female Sprague-Dawley rats is more sensitive than the back skin to drug-induced phototoxicity.

In vivo phototoxicity studies are important to predict drug-induced phototoxicity in humans; however, a standard methodology has not established. To determine differences in sensitivity to drug-induced phototoxicity among various skin sites, we evaluated phototoxic reactions in the back and abdominal skin of female Sprague-Dawley rats orally dosed with phototoxic drugs (pirfenidone, 8-methoxysoraren, doxycycline, and lomefloxacin) or a non-phototoxic drug (gatifloxacin) followed by solar-simulated light irradiation comprising 18J/cm ultraviolet A. Tissue reactions were evaluated by macroscopic and microscopic examination and immunohistochemistry for γ-H2AX, and tissue concentrations of pirfenidone, doxycycline, and lomefloxacin were measured by tandem mass spectrometry.

Red blood cell Pig-a assay and PIGRET assay in rats with azathioprine.

A new in vivo gene mutation assay has been developed based on the phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, Class A gene (Pig-a in rodents) as an endogenous reporter. Using this Pig-a assay, the in vivo mutagenicity of a single dose of azathioprine (Aza) was investigated in red blood cells (RBC Pig-a assay) and reticulocytes (PIGRET) of rats. Eight-week old male rats were orally dosed once with Aza at 50, 100 and 200mg/kg or ethylnitrosourea (ENU) at 10 and 40mg/kg as a positive control.

Pyrene did not induce gene mutation in red blood cell Pig-a assay and PIGRET assay in rats.

A new in vivo gene mutation assay has been developed based on the phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, Class A gene (Pig-a in rodents) as an endogenous reporter. Although a large number of chemicals have been evaluated in the rat Pig-a assay in 28-day repeat dose regimens, there was limited reporting of rat Pig-a assay after a single dose. A collaborative study by the Mammalian Mutagenicity Study group, which is a subgroup of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society, was conducted to verify the usefulness of the rat Pig-a assay after a single dose as a short-term genotoxicity test.

Fargesin improves lipid and glucose metabolism in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and high-fat diet-induced obese mice.

This study examined the effects of fargesin, a neolignan isolated from Magnolia plants, on obesity and insulin resistance and the possible mechanisms involved in these effects in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Fargesin promoted the glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In HFD-induced obese mice, fargesin decreased the body weight gain, white adipose tissue (WAT), and plasma triglyceride, non-esterified fatty acid and glucose levels, and improved the glucose tolerance.

Antioxidant treatment during preservation of bovine ovaries increased the development potential of embryos.

The overnight preservation of bovine ovaries would be highly useful in the subsequent harvest of viable oocytes for reproductive study. The present study aimed to optimize conditions for overnight preservation of bovine ovaries by examining the effects of temperature, solution and supplementation. In Experiment 1, the rate of development to the blastocyst stage of oocytes derived from ovaries preserved at 15°C was higher than that at either 5 or 25°C (p < 0.

Environmental factors affecting black/white coloration of the silken girdle in the swallowtail butterfly, Atrophaneura alcinous (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae).

The silken girdles of pupae of the swallowtail butterfly Atrophaneura alcinous show black and white color diphenism. Field observations revealed that all pupae observed on non-food plants and the leaves and stems of the larval food plant Aristolochia debilis were classified as a silken girdle of a black type, while a large portion of pupae pupating on the twigs and trunks of cherry trees in close proximity to A. debilis were classified as a silken girdle of a black type.

A simple liquid chromatographic method based on intramolecular excimer-forming derivatization and fluorescence detection for the determination of tyrosine and tyramine in urine.

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method for sensitive and selective fluorometric determination of p-hydroxyphenylethylamino group containing compounds is described. This method is based on an intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence derivatization with a pyrene reagent, 4-(1-pyrene)butanoyl chloride, followed by reversed-phase LC. The analytes, containing an amino moiety and a phenolic hydroxyl moiety in a molecule, were converted to the corresponding dipyrene-labeled derivatives by one-step derivatization.