"Voice Matters in a Dictator Game"

We examine a dictator game with a "voice" option in the laboratory. In our experiment, the recipient has an opportunity to state a payoff-irrelevant request for the minimum acceptable offer before the dictator dictates his/her offer. In this game, it is predicted not only by the standard game theory, but by the behavioral game theory such as theories of other-regarding preferences, that the dictator's offer is independent of the recipient's request. Some findings based on our data are as follows: the above independence hypothesis is rejected; as the recipient's request increases, the dictator's offer increases when the requests are less than 50% of the pie; on the other hand, when the request goes beyond 50% of the pie, the offer decreases as the request increases. That is, "voice" matters in a dictator game. We also conduct a clustering analysis to classify dictators' behaviour into some notable patterns. As a result, we obtain the following three behavioural patterns: the other-disregarding, the punishing the greedy, and the lenient.

Part agent that proposes maintenance actions for a part considering its life cycle

Part of: Seliger, Günther (Ed.): Innovative solutions : proceedings / 11th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 23rd - 25th September, 2013. - Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013. - ISBN 978-3-7983-2609-5 (online). - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-40276. - pp. 235–240.The transition from a consumption-oriented society to a reuse-based society is needed for the effective use of resources and environmental protection. However, it is difficult for a user to make appropriate decisions for maintenance of his/her parts because of the wide range of choices of action and the huge amount of information required. To support the user's decision and to promote the reuse of parts, we have developed a part agent system that manages information about individual parts throughout their life cycle. A part agent is a network agent that contains the information of its corresponding part and follows the movement of the part via the network throughout its life cycle. This paper describes a new mechanism of a part agent that proposes appropriate maintenance actions for the corresponding part by estimating its expected value, cost, and environmental load based on the predicted information about its life cycle

"Voice Matters in a Dictator Game"(in Japanese)

We examine a dictator game with a "voice" option in the laboratory. In the dictator game, player 1 dictates how to divide a pie, and player 2 simply receives his/her share, i.e., unlike in an ultimatum game, he/she does not have an option to reject this division. In our experiment, player 2 has an opportunity to state a payoff-irrelevant request for the minimum acceptable offer before player 1 dictates his/her offer. In this game,it is predicted not only by the standard game theory, but by the behavioral game theory such as the theory of other-regarding preferences, that player 1's offer is independent of player 2's request. Some findings based on our data are as follows: the above independence hypothesis is rejected; as player 2's request increases, player 1's offer increases when the requests are less than 50% of the pie; on the other hand, when the request goes beyond 50% of the pie, the offer decreases as the request increases. That is, "voice" matters without having strategic meaning. We also conduct a clustering analysis to find three notably different tendencies among player 1's behavior.

CNVs in Three Psychiatric Disorders

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the similarities and differences in the roles of genic and regulatory copy number variations (CNVs) in bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Based on high-resolution CNV data from 8708 Japanese samples, we performed to our knowledge the largest cross-disorder analysis of genic and regulatory CNVs in BD, SCZ, and ASD. RESULTS: In genic CNVs, we found an increased burden of smaller (500 kb) exonic CNVs in SCZ/ASD. Pathogenic CNVs linked to neurodevelopmental disorders were significantly associated with the risk for each disorder, but BD and SCZ/ASD differed in terms of the effect size (smaller in BD) and subtype distribution of CNVs linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. We identified 3 synaptic genes (DLG2, PCDH15, and ASTN2) as risk factors for BD. Whereas gene set analysis showed that BD-associated pathways were restricted to chromatin biology, SCZ and ASD involved more extensive and similar pathways. Nevertheless, a correlation analysis of gene set results indicated weak but significant pathway similarities between BD and SCZ or ASD (r = 0.25–0.31). In SCZ and ASD, but not BD, CNVs were significantly enriched in enhancers and promoters in brain tissue. CONCLUSIONS: BD and SCZ/ASD differ in terms of CNV burden, characteristics of CNVs linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, and regulatory CNVs. On the other hand, they have shared molecular mechanisms, including chromatin biology. The BD risk genes identified here could provide insight into the pathogenesis of BD

Dietary phytochemicals, HDAC inhibition, and DNA damage/repair defects in cancer cells

Genomic instability is a common feature of cancer etiology. This provides an avenue for therapeutic intervention, since cancer cells are more susceptible than normal cells to DNA damaging agents. However, there is growing evidence that the epigenetic mechanisms that impact DNA methylation and histone status also contribute to genomic instability. The DNA damage response, for example, is modulated by the acetylation status of histone and non-histone proteins, and by the opposing activities of histone acetyltransferase and histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes. Many HDACs overexpressed in cancer cells have been implicated in protecting such cells from genotoxic insults. Thus, HDAC inhibitors, in addition to unsilencing tumor suppressor genes, also can silence DNA repair pathways, inactivate non-histone proteins that are required for DNA stability, and induce reactive oxygen species and DNA double-strand breaks. This review summarizes how dietary phytochemicals that affect the epigenome also can trigger DNA damage and repair mechanisms. Where such data is available, examples are cited from studies in vitro and in vivo of polyphenols, organosulfur/organoselenium compounds, indoles, sesquiterpene lactones, and miscellaneous agents such as anacardic acid. Finally, by virtue of their genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, cancer chemopreventive agents are being redefined as chemo- or radio-sensitizers. A sustained DNA damage response coupled with insufficient repair may be a pivotal mechanism for apoptosis induction in cancer cells exposed to dietary phytochemicals. Future research, including appropriate clinical investigation, should clarify these emerging concepts in the context of both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms dysregulated in cancer, and the pros and cons of specific dietary intervention strategies

Diversity underfoot of agromyzids (Agromyzidae, Diptera) mining thalli of liverworts and hornworts

コケに潜るハモグリバエの驚くべき多様性 --37種を新種記載--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-01-18.Agromyzidae is a dipteran family that has diversified as internal plant feeders. Although most agromyzid species feed on herbaceous angiosperms, only a limited number of species has been recorded as miners of bryophytes. Extensive searches and rearing of bryophytivores in the Japanese Archipelago were made, resulting in that thallus-mining agromyzids are overwhelmingly widespread and diverse on thalloid liverworts and hornworts. By examining the morphology of adult flies, it was revealed that the agromyzid fauna comprise 39 species, of which 37 species are newly described. All the species are assigned to the genus Phytoliriomyza Hendel based on some shared morphological character states as follows: costa reaching M1; orbital setulae minute and erect (rarely proclinate); male epandrium with combs of fused tubercle-like setae and/or hypertrophied arms bearing tubercle-like setae; male distiphallus comprising a pair of stout, extended tubules; female cercus with two stout, apical, trichoid sensilla. Of the 39 agromyzid species in Japan, 36 species are associated with liverworts: 5 spp. on Marchantia (Marchantiaceae), 2 spp. on Dumortiera (Dumortieraceae), 3 spp. on Plagiochasma, 1 sp. on Asterella, 6 spp. on Reboulia (Aytoniaceae), 1 sp. on Wiesnerella (Wiesnerellaceae), 15 spp. on Conocephalum (Conocephalaceae), and 3 spp. on Riccia (Ricciaceae). Three species are associated with hornworts: 1 sp. on Folioceros (Anthocerotaceae), 1 sp. on Megaceros (Dendrocerotaceae), and 1 sp. on Notothylas, Phaeoceros (Notothyladaceae), and Anthoceros (Anthocerotaceae). The results suggest that 37 of the 39 species are host-specific at least to plant genus level, and that the inter-specific differences in male genitalia and color patterns of scutum, antenna, and maxillary palpus have contributed to reproductive isolation on the bryophytes that the flies share

Morphological and ecological adaptation of limpet-shaped top shells (Gastropoda: Trochidae: Fossarininae) to wave-swept rock reef habitats

巻貝が「巻き」を失う進化の過程を解明 --希少なチビアシヤガイ亜科全4種の調査に成功--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2018-08-27.Flattening of coiled shells has occurred in several gastropod lineages, while the evolutionary process of shell flattening is little known. The subfamily Fossarininae of the top shell family (Trochidae) is unique, because it includes four genera at various stages of shell flattening. Broderipia and Roya, have zygomorphic shells that has lost coiling, while the sister genera, Fossarina and Synaptocochlea, have respectively turbiniform and auriform shells. Therefore, comparisons of biology, habitats and detailed morphology among these four genera may help us to detect selection pressure driving shell flattening and loss of coiling. Although Broderipia has recently been identified as living symbiotically in the pits of sea urchins, the habitats and biology of the other three Fossarininae species, especially Roya are poorly known. After an extensive search on rocky shores of the Japanese Archipelago, we found live Roya eximia snails on intertidal/subtidal rock surfaces exposed to strong waves. Roya snails crept on the bare rock surface to graze periphyton at low tide, and fled into vacant barnacle shells at high tide. Comparison of the morphology of soft bodies in Fossarininae revealed that the columellar muscle of flattened species has been drastically elongated and arranged in posterior semi-outer edge of the flattened shell as observed in true limpets. The flattering and loss of coiling of the shell in Roya caused acquisition of a zygomorphic flat body, retraction of coiled visceral mass, and expansion of the foot sole. All of these changes improved tolerance against strong waves and the ability to cling to rock surfaces, and thus enabled a lifestyle utilizing both wave-swept rock surfaces and the inside of vacant barnacle shells

Shift of Feeding Mode in an Epizoic Stalked Barnacle Inducing Gall Formation of Host Sea Urchin

ウニの殻に癭を作るエボシガイの生態と進化史を解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-03-03.Among diverse stalked barnacles, Rugilepas pearsei (Thoracica: Cirripedia: Arthropoda) is a rare unique species that is associated with echinoids and has highly atrophied cirri. We rediscovered the barnacle for the first time from description and verified that the barnacles live obligately in half-open galls formed on the test of the sea urchin Echinothrix diadema (Diadematidae: Echinodermata). A molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the obligate association with echinoids derived from epizoic life on crustaceans. A stable isotope analysis suggests that the barnacle feeds on particulate organic matter (POM) without parasitizing the host echinoids. These findings suggest that the host shift caused losses of plates and feather-like cirri, changes in the attachment device from cementation to anchoring, and a shift in feeding mode from filter feeding to POM collection. The barnacle's epizoic, superficially sub-endozoic, communal life in stout but narrow galls causes repetitive reproduction at the cost of reduced growth