Metabolic remodeling of hyperactive rats

Spontaneously Running Tokushima Shikoku (SPORTS) rat is a hyperactive rat strain. However, the causative mutation of this phenotype has not yet been identified. To investigate the molecular basis for the unique phenotype of SPORTS rats, we examined gene-expression profiles by microarray analyses. Among adenylate kinase isozymes that maintain the homeostasis of cellular adenine nucleotide composition in the cell, only adenylate kinase 1 is highly up-regulated in both exercised and sedentary SPORTS rats compared with wild-type (WT) rats, 5.5-fold and 3.3-fold, respectively. Further comparative analyses revealed that genes involved in glucose metabolism were up-regulated in skeletal muscle tissue of exercised SPORTS rats compared with sedentary mutants, whereas genes related to extracellular matrix or region were down-regulated compared with WT rats. In brain tissue of sedentary SPORTS rats, genes associated with defense and catecholamine metabolism were highly expressed compared with WT rats. These findings suggest that genetic mutation(s) in SPORTS rat remodels metabolic demands through differentially regulating gene expression regardless of exercise. Therefore, the SPORTS rats are useful animal model not only for further examining the effects of exercise on metabolism but also for deeply studying the molecular basis how mutation affect the psychological motivation with spontaneous voluntary exercise phenotype

Digital Object Identifier Feature extraction of finger-vein patterns based on repeated line tracking and its application to personal identification

Abstract. We propose a method of personal identification based on finger-vein patterns. An image of a finger captured under infrared light contains not only the vein pattern but also irregular shading produced by the various thicknesses of the finger bones and muscles. The proposed method extracts the finger-vein pattern from the unclear image by using line tracking that starts from various positions. Experimental results show that it achieves robust pattern extraction, and the equal error rate was 0.145% in personal identification

Transcriptomic comparison between populations selected for higher and lower mobility in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

Movement is an important behavior observed in a wide range of taxa. Previous studies have examined genes controlling movement using wing polymorphic insects and genes controlling wing size. However, few studies have investigated genes controlling movement activity rather than morphological traits. In the present study, we conducted RNA sequencing using populations with higher (WL) and lower (WS) mobility established by artificial selection in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum and compared gene expression levels between selected populations with two replicate lines. As a result, we found significant differences between the selected populations in 677 genes expressed in one replicate line and 1198 genes expressed in another replicate line, of which 311 genes were common to the two replicate lines. Furthermore, quantitative PCR focusing on 6 of these genes revealed that neuropeptide F receptor gene (NpF) was significantly more highly expressed in the WL population than in the WS population, which was common to the two replicate lines. We discuss differences in genes controlling movement between walking activity and wing polymorphism

Personal authentication analysis using finger-vein patterns in patients with connective tissue diseases - Possible association with vascular disease and seasonal change

Objective: To examine how connective tissue diseases affect finger-vein pattern authentication. Methods: The finger-vein patterns of 68 patients with connective tissue diseases and 24 healthy volunteers were acquired. Captured as CCD (charge-coupled device) images by transmitting near-infrared light through fingers, they were followed up in once in each season for one year. The similarity of the follow-up patterns and the initial one was evaluated in terms of their normalized cross-correlation C. Results: The mean C values calculated for patients tended to be lower than those calculated for healthy volunteers. In midwinter (February in Japan) they showed statistically significant reduction both as compared with patients in other seasons and as compared with season-matched healthy controls, whereas the values calculated for healthy controls showed no significant seasonal changes. Values calculated for patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) or mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) showed major reductions in November and, especially, February. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and patients with dermatomyositis or polymyositis (DM/PM) did not show statistically significant seasonal changes in C values. Conclusions: Finger-vein patterns can be used throughout the year to identify patients with connective tissue diseases, but some attention is needed for patients with advanced disease such as SSc

Same-finger and different-fingers authentication results for patients and healthy volunteers.

<p>Images obtained on the same day were used for both same-finger (⬛/⬜) and different-fingers (▲/△) authentication. Mean values plus/minus one standard deviation are plotted. *** p<0.001.</p

Time course, in each disease, of same-finger <i>C</i> values for images compared with those first acquired data in June.

<p>August DM/PM data could not be acquired because of the absence of patients. Mean values are plotted. ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.</p

Time course of same-finger <i>C</i> values for images compared with those first acquired in June.

<p>Mean values plus/minus one standard deviation are plotted. *** p<0.001.</p