Latitudinal variation and coevolutionary diversification of sexually dimorphic traits in the false blister beetle .

Sexual traits are subject to evolutionary forces that maximize reproductive benefits and minimize survival costs, both of which can depend on environmental conditions. Latitude explains substantial variation in environmental conditions. However, little is known about the relationship between sexual trait variation and latitude, although body size often correlates with latitude.

Relaxation functions of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process with fluctuating diffusivity.

We study the relaxation behavior of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process with time-dependent and fluctuating diffusivity. In this process, the dynamics of the position vector is modeled by the Langevin equation with a linear restoring force and a fluctuating diffusivity (FD). This process can be interpreted as a simple model of relaxational dynamics with internal degrees of freedom or in a heterogeneous environment.

Cross-cultural, population-based study on adolescent body image and eating distress in Japan and Finland.

This cross-sectional population-based survey compares the prevalence of self-reported body image and eating distress symptoms among adolescents in Japan and Finland, and associations between emotional/behavioral problems, body image and eating distress from a cross-cultural perspective. The study included 1,840 Japanese and 1,135 Finnish 8th grade students. The self-reported questionnaire included the Body Image and Eating Distress Scale and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Association between bullying behavior, perceived school safety, and self-cutting: a Japanese population-based school survey.

Background: No previous population-based studies have examined associations between self-cutting, perceived school safety, and bullying behavior among East Asian adolescents.

Method: We examined whether bullying, victimization, and perceived school safety were associated with self-cutting by getting 1865 students with a mean age of 13.9 years (standard deviation 0.

Short-time pretreatment of wood with low-concentration and room-temperature ionic liquid for SEM observation.

A new pretreatment method using room-temperature ionic liquid (IL) was proposed for observing wood specimens in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A variety of concentrations were examined for ethanol solution of the IL, [Emim][MePO3Me], to determine an optimal pretreatment procedure. It was concluded that 10% ethanol solution of the IL was the most adequate to acquire good SEM images.

Effect of Perceived Parent-Child Relationship in Childhood on Resilience in Japanese Youth.

The present study examined the effect of the perceived parent-child relationship in childhood on resilience in youth. It recruited 268 university students majoring in education and college students majoring in welfare science to investigate the relationship between their perception of parent-child relationship in their childhood and their current resilience by their responses on the Adolescent Resilience Scale and the Children's Perceived Affiliation for Parents Scale. The results indicated that female's positive perception of their relationship with their mothers in childhood had a positive influence on their resilience.

Elucidating fluctuating diffusivity in center-of-mass motion of polymer models with time-averaged mean-square-displacement tensor.

There have been increasing reports that the diffusion coefficient of macromolecules depends on time and fluctuates randomly. Here a method is developed to elucidate this fluctuating diffusivity from trajectory data. Time-averaged mean-square displacement (MSD), a common tool in single-particle-tracking (SPT) experiments, is generalized to a second-order tensor with which both magnitude and orientation fluctuations of the diffusivity can be clearly detected.

Load Perturbation Facilitates Interpersonal Error Compensation in a Dyadic Force Production Task.

The present study tested the hypothesis that a load perturbation facilitates interpersonal compensation for force error. Ten groups performed both control and perturbation conditions. In the control condition, a target discrete peak force was the sum of 10% of the maximum voluntary contraction produced by two participants.

A Common Force-Sharing Pattern in Joint Action That Consists of Four People.

The authors examined the force-sharing patterns in a joint action performed by a group of two, three, or four people compared with a solo action. In the joint actions, 28 participants produced periodic isometric forces such that the sum of forces they produced cycled between 5% and 10% maximum voluntary contraction with the right hand at 1 Hz. In both the three- and four-person tasks, the correlation between forces produced by two of the three or four participants was negative, and the remaining one or two participants produced intermediate forces.

Polycondensation of Asparagine-comprising Dipeptides in Aqueous Media-A Simulation of Polypeptide Formation in Primordial Earth Hydrosphere.

Asparagine and aspartic acid might have mutually transformed in the primordial hydrosphere of the earth, if ammonia and aspartic acid had existed in equilibrium. These amino acids seem to contribute to polypeptides, while the simple amino acids glycine and alanine easily form cyclic dipeptides and do not achieve long peptide chains. Asparagine-comprising dipeptides contribute some kinds of activation forms of dipeptides because these can polymerize faster than asparagine only.

Tree-ring analysis and modeling approaches yield contrary response of circumboreal forest productivity to climate change.

Circumboreal forest ecosystems are exposed to a larger magnitude of warming in comparison with the global average, as a result of warming-induced environmental changes. However, it is not clear how tree growth in these ecosystems responds to these changes. In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of forest productivity to climate change using ring width indices (RWI) from a tree-ring width dataset accessed from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank and gridded climate datasets from the Climate Research Unit.

Bidirectional transfer between joint and individual actions in a task of discrete force production.

The present study examined bidirectional learning transfer between joint and individual actions involving discrete isometric force production with the right index finger. To examine the effects of practice of joint action on performance of the individual action, participants performed a pre-test (individual condition), practice blocks (joint condition), and a post-test (individual condition) (IJI task). To examine the effects of practice of the individual action on performance during the joint action, the participants performed a pre-test (joint condition), practice blocks (individual condition), and a post-test (joint condition) (JIJ task).

A Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Study in Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a 3-Tesla Clinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System: The Anterior Cingulate Cortex and the Left Cerebellum.

The pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not fully understood. We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to investigate metabolite concentration ratios in the anterior cingulate cortex and left cerebellum in ASD. In the ACC and left cerebellum studies, the ASD group and intelligence quotient- and age-matched control group consisted of 112 and 114 subjects and 65 and 45 subjects, respectively.

GABAergic modulation of noradrenaline release caused by blood pressure changes in the rat median preoptic area.

Experiments using in-vivo microdialysis methods were conducted to investigate whether blood pressure changes cause an alteration in the release of noradrenaline (NA) in the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) and whether the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor mechanism is involved in the modulation of the pressure response-induced alteration in the NA release. In urethane-anesthetized male rats, intravenous administration of metaraminol, an α-agonist, significantly produced an increase in dialysate NA concentration in the MnPO area accompanied by an elevation in the mean arterial pressure (MAP). Perfusion with GABA (10 μM) through the dialysis probe elicited a significant decrease in either MAP or the NA concentration in the MnPO area.

High-precision radiocarbon dating of political collapse and dynastic origins at the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala.

The lowland Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, had a long history of occupation, spanning from the Middle Preclassic Period through the Terminal Classic (1000 BC to AD 950). The Ceibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project has been conducting archaeological investigations at this site since 2005 and has obtained 154 radiocarbon dates, which represent the largest collection of radiocarbon assays from a single Maya site. The Bayesian analysis of these dates, combined with a detailed study of ceramics, allowed us to develop a high-precision chronology for Ceibal.

Glutamatergic modulation of noradrenaline release in the rat median preoptic area.

The present study was carried out to investigate whether glutamatergic receptor mechanisms modulate the release of noradrenaline (NA) in the region of the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) using intracerebral microdialysis techniques in freely moving rats. Perfusion of N-methyl--asparatate (NMDA, 10 and 50μM) through the microdialysis probe significantly enhanced dialysate NA concentration in the region of the MnPO. Local perfusion of the NMDA antagonist dizocilpine (MK801, 10 and 50μM) did not change the basal release of NA in the MnPO area.

Noradrenaline receptor mechanisms modulate the angiotensin II-induced water intake in the subfornical organ in rats.

The present study was carried out to clarify the role of noradrenergic systems in the mediation of drinking response to angiotensin II (ANG II) in the rat subfornical organ (SFO). Microinjection of ANG II (10 pmol, 50 nl) into the SFO caused a robust drinking response (water volume, 1.8-8.

Langevin equation with fluctuating diffusivity: A two-state model.

Recently, anomalous subdiffusion, aging, and scatter of the diffusion coefficient have been reported in many single-particle-tracking experiments, though the origins of these behaviors are still elusive. Here, as a model to describe such phenomena, we investigate a Langevin equation with diffusivity fluctuating between a fast and a slow state. Namely, the diffusivity follows a dichotomous stochastic process.

GABAergic modulation of serotonin release in the rat subfornical organ area.

The present study was carried out to examine whether γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor mechanisms are involved in the release of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the subfornical organ (SFO) using intracerebral microdialysis techniques. Perfusion with the GABA receptor antagonists as well as agonists was performed in the region of the SFO through a microdialysis probe and extracellular concentrations of 5-HT and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured in freely moving rats. Perfusion with the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (10 and 50μM), but not the GABAB receptor antagonist phaclofen (10 and 50μM), increased dialysate 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations in the SFO area, suggesting that the GABAergic system may tonically inhibit the 5-HT release in the SFO area through GABAA receptors.

Sexual selection of male parental care in giant water bugs.

Paternal care can be maintained under sexual selection, if it helps in attracting more mates. We tested the hypothesis in two giant water bug species, Appasus major and Appasus japonicus, that male parental care is sexually selected through female preference for caring males. Females were given an opportunity to choose between two males.

Epimerization of Alanyl-Alanine Induced by γ-Rays Irradiation in Aqueous Solutions.

Living organisms have homochiral L-amino acids in proteins and homochiral D-mononucleotides in nucleic acids. The chemical evolutionary process to protein homochirality has been discussed for many years. Although many scenarios have been proposed for homochirality in the monomeric compounds, homochirality in amino acids and mononucleotides does not always guarantee homochirality in polypeptides and polynucleotides.

Serotonin release in the subfornical organ area induced by sodium and water intake in the rat.

Previous studies have shown that the subfornical organ (SFO) is involved in the modulation of sodium intake in rats. To clarify whether serotonergic mechanisms in the SFO participate in the modulatory system, the present study was carried out to examine the effects of sodium and water intake on serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) release in the subfornical organ (SFO) in freely moving rats. The ingestion of 0.

Effect of Coulomb collision on the negative ion extraction mechanism in negative ion sources.

To improve the H(-) ion beam optics, it is necessary to understand the energy relaxation process of surface produced H(-) ions in the extraction region of Cs seeded H(-) ion sources. Coulomb collisions of charged particles have been introduced to the 2D3V-PIC (two dimension in real space and three dimension in velocity space particle-in-cell) model for the H(-) extraction by using the binary collision model. Due to Coulomb collision, the lower energy part of the ion energy distribution function of H(-) ions has been greatly increased.

Measurement of heat load density profile on acceleration grid in MeV-class negative ion accelerator.

To understand the physics of the negative ion extraction/acceleration, the heat load density profile on the acceleration grid has been firstly measured in the ITER prototype accelerator where the negative ions are accelerated to 1 MeV with five acceleration stages. In order to clarify the profile, the peripheries around the apertures on the acceleration grid were separated into thermally insulated 34 blocks with thermocouples. The spatial resolution is as low as 3 mm and small enough to measure the tail of the beam profile with a beam diameter of ∼16 mm.

Analysis of the beam halo in negative ion sources by using 3D3V PIC code.

The physical mechanism of the formation of the negative ion beam halo and the heat loads of the multi-stage acceleration grids are investigated with the 3D PIC (particle in cell) simulation. The following physical mechanism of the beam halo formation is verified: The beam core and the halo consist of the negative ions extracted from the center and the periphery of the meniscus, respectively. This difference of negative ion extraction location results in a geometrical aberration.