Evolution of Otx paralogue usages in early patterning of the vertebrate head

AbstractTo assess evolutional changes in the expression pattern of Otx paralogues, expression analyses were undertaken in fugu, bichir, skate and lamprey. Together with those in model vertebrates, the comparison suggested that a gnathostome ancestor would have utilized all of Otx1, Otx2 and Otx5 paralogues in organizer and anterior mesendoderm for head development. In this animal, Otx1 and Otx2 would have also functioned in specification of the anterior neuroectoderm at presomite stage and subsequent development of forebrain/midbrain at somite stage, while Otx5 expression would have already been specialized in epiphysis and eyes. Otx1 and Otx2 functions in anterior neuroectoderm and brain of the gnathostome ancestor would have been differentially maintained by Otx1 in a basal actinopterygian and by Otx2 in a basal sarcopterygian. Otx5 expression in head organizer and anterior mesendoderm seems to have been lost in the teleost lineage after divergence of bichir, and also from the amniotes after divergence of amphibians as independent events. Otx1 expression was lost from the organizer in the tetrapod lineage. In contrast, in a teleost ancestor prior to whole genome duplication, Otx1 and Otx2 would have both been expressed in the dorsal margin of blastoderm, embryonic shield, anterior mesendoderm, anterior neuroectoderm and forebrain/midbrain, at respective stages of head development. Subsequent whole genome duplication and the following genome changes would have caused different Otx paralogue usages in each teleost lineage. Lampreys also have three Otx paralogues; their sequences are highly diverged from gnathostome cognates, but their expression pattern is well related to those of skate Otx cognates

A Theoretical Approach to the Optimal IT Investments : Application of the Genetic Algorithms

In the study of economy it is the world tendency that more and more attentions are being paid to the intangible assets. In these few years many movements of studying, measuring, reporting intangible assets have appeared. Also in the field of IT (Information Technology)-investment, it is well known that for the effective IT investment, considerable amount of fund should be invested in the improvement of human resources and in management systems of their own companies. And these management should be accomplished continuously; from the plan, throughout the execution of it, to the monitoring the results of investments. These process are called IT investment management (ITIM). IT investment management must include the intangible assets in its field of activity. There are many parameters considerable that will influence IT investment evaluation. These mechanisms are fairly complicated to describe systematically and be analyzed by means of usual mathematical tools such as dynamic programming. However, for the effective investment it is important to understand the mechanisms of how the revenue or added value can be made up throughout investments. This paper is an attempt to theoretically describe this mechanism and to find out the optimal results. For the last object using genetic algorithms (GA) is proposed

Relationship between charge redistribution and ferromagnetism at the heterointerface between perovskite oxides LaNiO3 and LaMnO

To investigate the relationship between the charge redistribution and ferromagnetism at the heterointerface between perovskite transition-metal oxides LaNiO$_3$ (LNO) and LaMnO$_3$ (LMO), we performed x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements. In the LNO/LMO heterostructures with asymmetric charge redistribution, the electrons donated from Mn to Ni ions are confined within one monolayer (ML) of LNO at the interface, whereas holes are distributed over 3-4 ML on the LMO side. A detailed analysis of the Ni-$L_{2,3}$ and Mn-$L_{2,3}$ XMCD spectra reveals that Ni magnetization is induced only by the Ni$^{2+}$ ions in the 1 ML LNO adjacent to the interface, while the magnetization of Mn ions is increased in the 3-4 ML LMO of the interfacial region. The characteristic length scale of the emergent (increased) interfacial ferromagnetism of the LNO (LMO) layers is in good agreement with that of the charge distribution across the interface, indicating a close relationship between the charge redistribution due to the interfacial charge transfer and the ferromagnetism of the LNO/LMO interface. Furthermore, the XMCD spectra clearly demonstrate that the vectors of induced magnetization of both ions are aligned ferromagnetically, suggesting that the delicate balance between the exchange interactions occurring inside each layer and across the interface may induce the canted ferromagnetism of Ni$^{2+}$ ions, resulting in weak magnetization in the 1 ML LNO adjacent to the interface.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

Anodal Electrical Stimulation Enhances the Perceived Piquancy Induced by Chili Peppers and Wasabi

Methods for enhancing perceived piquancy are expected to improve eating satisfaction and reduce health hazards such as reflux esophagitis caused by the excessive consumption of piquant ingredients. In this study, based on the differences in receptors, we classified the perceived piquancy into three types: HOT, MINTY, and SPICY. We particularly focused on the HOT sensation, which primarily contributes to the negative health effect of eating piquant foods. We proposed a novel method to enhance the intensity of piquancy by single-pole electrical stimulation. Our proposed method uses metal cutlery as an electrode to stimulate the part of the trigeminal nerve of the tongue related to piquancy. To evaluate whether the proposed method selectively enhances the HOT sensation, we conducted psychophysical experiments and demonstrated that ${\mathrm {1.5~ \text {m} \text {A} }}$ anodal single-pole electrical stimulation enhanced the HOT sensation and the SPICY sensation induced by chili peppers or wasabi. To our knowledge, this is the first study to establish a method for enhancing the perceived piquancy using only electrical stimulation