Significant Improvement in Survival of Tabby Jimpy Mutant Mice by Providing Folded-paper Nest Boxes

There is little scientific evidence that environmental enrichment meets the physiological needs for laboratory  animals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the provision of nest boxes improved the lifespan  of Tabby jimpy (Ta-jp) mutant mice carrying a lethal gene. Nest boxes tested in this study were small  folded-paper trapezoid-shaped houses. The Nest box group was reared in cages with the nest boxes and  the Control group was raised in only standard cages. Weaning results and survival rates in Ta-jp mice were  compared between both groups. By the weaning stage, all of the Ta-jp mice survived in the Nest box group.  There was a significant difference in weaning rates between both groups. The body weight of weanlings  demonstrated a significant difference between both groups. The survival analysis indicated that the Nest  box group (29.9 days) significantly had a longer lifespan than the Control group (25.7 days). The Nest box  group developed few abnormal jumping behaviours. The nest boxes served as shelters from environmental  stimuli. In conclusion, we confirmed that folded-paper nest boxes had a beneficial effect on weaning rates  of Ta-jp mice. Our results revealed that there was significant improvement in survival of Ta-jp mice using  the nest boxes.

Collaboration among Teachers by Introducing Lesson Study ―Case Study on Educational Development in Bolivia―

日本が行っている教育開発プロジェクトにおいて、授業研究は途上国の教育の質を向上させるために重要な役割を果たしている。本稿は、ボリビアにおける授業研究に対する教師の意識を調査し、授業研究の導入による教師の意識変容について考察することを目的とする。そのために、授業研究の過程にある公開授業や反省会への教師の参加意識に注目し、教師がそれに対してどのような価値を見出していくのかを検証した。途上国の授業研究に関する先行研究には、授業研究の促進要因や阻害要因に言及した研究はみられるが、このように教師の意識や態度の変容を通して、授業研究の果たす役割について展望した研究は少なく新しい試みである。ボリビアの教師にとって授業は個人的な営みであり、教師は学校内で授業改善のために他者に授業を公開し議論をする経験をもたなかった。そのため教師にとって公開授業や反省会に対する個々の受け止め方は大きく異なっていた。本稿は授業研究を実践している教師から得られた量的、質的データをもとに、教師の意識変容について考察した。その結果、授業研究の導入により教師間に協働性が形成され、それはボリビアの教師文化に影響を与えるものであるということが明らかになった。今後、教師間の協働性が、学校においてどのように具現化され、ボリビア独自の授業研究の確立に貢献するのかということについて、長期的な検証が必要である。Lesson Study has the potential to improve the quality of education in developing countries, through educational development programs that are being conducted by the Japanese. This paper investigates teachers’ attitudes toward Lesson Study in Bolivia, and discusses changes in their attitudes after the introduction of the program. Although much literature in the field of Lesson Study that discusses factors to promote the program is available in developing countries, the study of changes in teachers’ attitudes is still new, with little literature available on this subject. Bolivian teachers have been essentially working alone, without an environment of open classes and reflection meetings where teachers collaborate with each other to improve lessons in schools. Some teachers were not aware of the value of open classes and reflection meetings because it was their first experience with this method of teaching. This paper discusses how teachers’ attitudes change by reporting quantitative and qualitative data obtained from teachers implementing the program. The investigation showed that teachers learned to work collaboratively and that changes occurred in the teacher culture with the introduction of Lesson Study in Bolivia. The future challenge is to verify promotion of collaboration among teachers and discuss directions to improve Lesson Study in Bolivia

Gallbladder Metastasis from Renal Cell Carcinoma

A 73-year-old female was operated with radical nephrectomy and cholecystectomy for renal cell carcinoma and suspected gallstones after 9 courses of sunitinib treatment. Gallbladder specimen showed gallbladder metastasis originating from the renal cell carcinoma. Gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma is rare. Here, we discuss a case of gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma

De Novo Mutations in GNAO1, Encoding a Gαo Subunit of Heterotrimeric G Proteins, Cause Epileptic Encephalopathy

Heterotrimeric G proteins, composed of α, β, and γ subunits, can transduce a variety of signals from seven-transmembrane-type receptors to intracellular effectors. By whole-exome sequencing and subsequent mutation screening, we identified de novo heterozygous mutations in GNAO1, which encodes a Gαo subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins, in four individuals with epileptic encephalopathy. Two of the affected individuals also showed involuntary movements. Somatic mosaicism (approximately 35% to 50% of cells, distributed across multiple cell types, harbored the mutation) was shown in one individual. By mapping the mutation onto three-dimensional models of the Gα subunit in three different complexed states, we found that the three mutants (c.521A>G [p.Asp174Gly], c.836T>A [p.Ile279Asn], and c.572_592del [p.Thr191_Phe197del]) are predicted to destabilize the Gα subunit fold. A fourth mutant (c.607G>A), in which the Gly203 residue located within the highly conserved switch II region is substituted to Arg, is predicted to impair GTP binding and/or activation of downstream effectors, although the p.Gly203Arg substitution might not interfere with Gα binding to G-protein-coupled receptors. Transient-expression experiments suggested that localization to the plasma membrane was variably impaired in the three putatively destabilized mutants. Electrophysiological analysis showed that Gαo-mediated inhibition of calcium currents by norepinephrine tended to be lower in three of the four Gαo mutants. These data suggest that aberrant Gαo signaling can cause multiple neurodevelopmental phenotypes, including epileptic encephalopathy and involuntary movements

A computerized video system to automatically analyze movements of individual cells and its application to the study of circadian rhythms in phototaxis and motility in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

We have created a new computerized video method [the Tracker-Cell Movement Analyzer (TCMA)] for flexible and detailed time-related tracking and analyses of cell movements, especially behavioral responses to light stimuli. TCMA displays the swimming tracks of the individual cells in consecutive time segments of variable length using different colors to represent different time segments; it automatically performs statistical analyses of the swimming directions and velocities of the cells in each time segment. As an example of its many possible applications, an analysis of the circadian rhythms of phototactic orientation and motility in Chlamydomonas was performed. It is thus clearly demonstrated that the velocity of motile cells, the phototactic orientation and the percentage of motile cells, changed rhythmically in a circadian manner, all in the same phase, i.e. the maximum occurred at the “subjective dawn” and the minimum at the “subjective dusk”. These facts can quantitatively account for the observed circadian change in the photoaccumulation activity

Schroedinger Equations Soluble in Terms of Confluent Hypergeometric Functions

Inclusive of well-known potentials, parabolic and Morse potentials, potentials for which Schroedinger equations are soluble in terms of confluent hypergeometric functions are determined together with their eigenvalues and eigenfunctions