Hormonal and circuit mechanisms controlling female sexual behavior

Sexual behavior is crucial for reproduction in many animals. In many vertebrates, females exhibit sexual behavior only during a brief period surrounding ovulation. Over the decades, studies have identified the roles of ovarian sex hormones, which peak in levels around the time of ovulation, and the critical brain regions involved in the regulation of female sexual behavior. Modern technical innovations have enabled a deeper understanding of the neural circuit mechanisms controlling this behavior. In this review, I summarize our current knowledge and discuss the neural circuit mechanisms by which female sexual behavior occurs in association with the ovulatory phase of their cycle

Income Level and Impaired Kidney Function Among Working Adults in Japan

所得と腎機能低下の関連が明らかに --低所得群は高所得群と比べ急な腎機能低下や人工透析開始のリスクが1.7倍--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2024-03-04.[Importance] Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue, affecting 850 million people worldwide. Although previous studies have shown the association between socioeconomic status and CKD, little is known about whether this association exists in countries such as Japan where universal health coverage has been mostly achieved. [Objective] To identify any association of income-based disparity with development of impaired kidney function among the working population of Japan. [Design, Setting, and Participants] This was a nationwide retrospective cohort study of adults aged 34 to 74 years who were enrolled in the Japan Health Insurance Association insurance program, which covers approximately 40% of the working-age population (30 million enrollees) in Japan. Participants whose estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) had been measured at least twice from 2015 to 2022 were included in the analysis, which was conducted from September 1, 2021, to March 31, 2023. [Exposure] Individual income levels (deciles) in the fiscal year 2015. [Main Outcomes and Measures] Odds ratios were calculated for rapid CKD progression (defined as an annual eGFR decline of more than 5 mL/min/1.73 m2), and hazard ratios, for the initiation of kidney replacement therapy (dialysis or kidney transplant) by income level deciles in the fiscal year 2015. [Results] The study population totaled 5 591 060 individuals (mean [SD] age, 49.2 [9.3] years) of whom 33.4% were female. After adjusting for potential confounders, the lowest income decile (lowest 10th percentile) demonstrated a greater risk of rapid CKD progression (adjusted odds ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.67-1.73) and a greater risk of kidney replacement therapy initiation (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.47-1.86) compared with the highest income decile (top 10th percentile). A negative monotonic association was more pronounced among males and individuals without diabetes and was observed in individuals with early (CKD stage 1-2) and advanced (CKD stage 3-5) disease. [Conclusions and Relevance] The findings of this retrospective cohort study suggest that, even in countries with universal health coverage, there may be a large income-based disparity in the risk of rapid CKD progression and initiation of kidney replacement therapy. These findings highlight the importance of adapting CKD prevention and management strategies according to an individual’s socioeconomic status, even when basic health care services are financially guaranteed

Japanese VLBI Network observations of radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

We performed phase-reference very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations on five radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) at 8.4 GHz with the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN). Each of the five targets (RXS J08066+7248, RXS J16290+4007, RXS J16333+4718, RXS J16446+2619, and B3 1702+457) in milli-Jansky levels were detected and unresolved in milli-arcsecond resolutions, i.e., with brightness temperatures higher than 10^7 K. The nonthermal processes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity, rather than starbursts, are predominantly responsible for the radio emissions from these NLS1s. Out of the nine known radio-loud NLS1s, including the ones chosen for this study, we found that the four most radio-loud objects exclusively have inverted spectra. This suggests a possibility that these NLS1s are radio-loud due to Doppler beaming, which can apparently enhance both the radio power and the spectral frequency.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

iPSC screening for drug repurposing identifies anti‐RNA virus agents modulating host cell susceptibility

RNAウイルスの感染を阻害する既存薬の同定 --複数の異なるRNAウイルスに対して宿主細胞の感受性を下げることにより感染を抑制する薬剤--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-04-07.iPS cells in drug screenings for COVID-19. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-04-07.Human pathogenic RNA viruses are threats to public health because they are prone to escaping the human immune system through mutations of genomic RNA, thereby causing local outbreaks and global pandemics of emerging or re‐emerging viral diseases. While specific therapeutics and vaccines are being developed, a broad‐spectrum therapeutic agent for RNA viruses would be beneficial for targeting newly emerging and mutated RNA viruses. In this study, we conducted a screen of repurposed drugs using Sendai virus (an RNA virus of the family Paramyxoviridae), with human‐induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to explore existing drugs that may present anti‐RNA viral activity. Selected hit compounds were evaluated for their efficacy against two important human pathogens: Ebola virus (EBOV) using Huh7 cells and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) using Vero E6 cells. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), including raloxifene, exhibited antiviral activities against EBOV and SARS‐CoV‐2. Pioglitazone, a PPARγ agonist, also exhibited antiviral activities against SARS‐CoV‐2, and both raloxifene and pioglitazone presented a synergistic antiviral effect. Finally, we demonstrated that SERMs blocked entry steps of SARS‐CoV‐2 into host cells. These findings suggest that the identified FDA‐approved drugs can modulate host cell susceptibility against RNA viruses

Obrazovna svrha neuplitanja: slučaj japanskoga mimamoru pristupa kao dio profesionalizma predškolskih učitelja

Teachers’ moment-by-moment interactions with children are powerful determinants of children’s learning outcomes and development. Successful guidance involves teachers’ intentionality, yet one’s intent to teach may be hard to discern. Teachers using indirect, non-observable approaches are prone to be misunderstood as not actively guiding children’s learning. Therefore, the present study revisited the conceptualization of Intentional Teaching, using the Mimamoru Approach within the Japanese early childhood education context as an exemplar. We investigated how Japanese educators defined the Mimamoru Approach and how it meaningfully reflected their professionalism. Three early childhood teachers participated in a focus group interview and shared their reactions towards a short video about an incident in a preschool classroom. Their narratives explicated the core values and processes of the Mimamoru Approach: illustrating the non-intervening approach as indicative of trusting and respecting children’s independence and initiative. Implications of this study suggested the subtle Mimamoru Approach and the observable US practices in Intentional Teaching should not be viewed as dichotomous, but as examples on a spectrum that considers teachers’ professionalism within cultural contexts.Trenutačne i kontinuirane interakcije učitelja s djecom moćne su odrednice ishoda učenja i razvoja djece. Uspješno vodstvo uključuje namjeru učitelja, a namjeru pojedinca da poučava ipak je nekada teško razlučiti. Učitelje koji koriste indirektne, neprimjetne pristupe skloni smo krivo razumjeti kao one koji dječje učenje ne usmjeravaju aktivno. Stoga ovo istraživanje revidira konceptualizaciju namjernoga poučavanja, navodeći kao primjer mimamoru pristup unutar konteksta japanskoga ranog obrazovanja. Istražili smo kako japanski edukatori definiraju mimamoru pristup i kako on uvelike odražava njihov profesionalizam. Tri učitelja ranoga obrazovanja činila su fokus-grupu unutar koje su sudjelovali u intervjuu u kojemu su podijelili svoje reakcije na kratki video o događaju u predškolskoj učionici. Njihovi narativi objasnili su temeljne vrijednosti i procese mimamoru pristupa: neuplitanje kao pokazatelj povjerenja i poštivanja dječje neovisnosti i inicijative. Implikacije ove studije sugeriraju da suptilni mimamoru pristup, kao i vidljive prakse namjernoga poučavanja u SAD-u, ne treba promatrati kao dihotomne, već kako primjere profesionalizma učitelja na istom spektru, ali unutar različitih kulturoloških konteksta

マウス胸腺の抗体遺伝子転写細胞の分化

Immunoglobulin(Ig) heavy chain gene-transcribing cell diffrentiation was investigated in the thymus of BALB/c mice by the Realtime PCR for membrane-bound form IgM(IgM_m). The ratio of IgM_m to total IgM(IgM_t) was approximately 1 from fetus period to 14 days after the birth, and IgM transcriptions were almost processed to membrane-bound form. Then IgM_m transcriptions decreased and secretory form IgM(IgM_s), the difference between IgM_t and IgM_m, started being detected. It was concluded that thymus Ig gene-transcribing cells underwent the similar differential processes in which B cells developed from immature type having IgM_m to mature type secreting IgM_s, in secondary lymphoid tissues