Abnormal social behavior, hyperactivity, impaired remote spatial memory, and increased D1-mediated dopaminergic signaling in neuronal nitric oxide synthase knockout mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) is involved in the regulation of a diverse population of intracellular messenger systems in the brain. In humans, abnormal NOS/nitric oxide metabolism is suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of some neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Mice with targeted disruption of the nNOS gene exhibit abnormal behaviors. Here, we subjected nNOS knockout (KO) mice to a battery of behavioral tests to further investigate the role of nNOS in neuropsychiatric functions. We also examined the role of nNOS in dopamine/DARPP-32 signaling in striatal slices from nNOS KO mice and the effects of the administration of a dopamine D1 receptor agonist on behavior in nNOS KO mice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>nNOS KO mice showed hyperlocomotor activity in a novel environment, increased social interaction in their home cage, decreased depression-related behavior, and impaired spatial memory retention. In striatal slices from nNOS KO mice, the effects of a dopamine D1 receptor agonist, SKF81297, on the phosphorylation of DARPP-32 and AMPA receptor subunit GluR1 at protein kinase A sites were enhanced. Consistent with the biochemical results, intraperitoneal injection of a low dose of SKF81297 significantly decreased prepulse inhibition in nNOS KO mice, but not in wild-type mice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings indicate that nNOS KO upregulates dopamine D1 receptor signaling, and induces abnormal social behavior, hyperactivity and impaired remote spatial memory. nNOS KO mice may serve as a unique animal model of psychiatric disorders.</p

Introduction pathways and evolutionary mechanisms of alien species of Lolium spreading across sandy coasts in Japan

1. Estimating the role of specific processes in the spread of alien species necessitates the determination of introduction pathways and source populations of invaded areas. Alien grasses in the genus Lolium that have extensively invaded Japan provide a unique opportunity to estimate the expansion process through direct comparison between source and naturalised populations because the introduction pathways, contaminants in grain commodities and commercial cultivars for fodder crops or revegetation materials are well-known. Therefore, by directly comparing source and naturalised populations, we estimated the introduction pathways and whether adaptative evolution occurred in Lolium species on sandy coasts in Japan. 2. Lolium individuals sampled from naturalised populations in croplands, seaports, and sandy coasts were compared with those from two introduction sources for morphological and genetic variations based on a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism analysis and a common garden experiment. Furthermore, we conducted a reciprocal transplant experiment between cropland and sandy coast. 3. Populations naturalised in croplands were closely related to the cultivars, whereas those naturalised in seaports and sandy coasts were associated with contaminants. These results indicate that the cropland and sandy coast populations are derived from cultivars and contaminants, respectively. In addition, asymmetric gene flow from cropland populations to sandy coast populations was observed. The reciprocal transplant experiment clearly demonstrated the home site advantage; populations derived from croplands yielded higher floret numbers than those derived from other habitats at the cropland site; sandy coast populations had higher survival rates than those from croplands at the coastal site. Port populations exhibited a similar tendency as sandy coast populations, indicating that contaminants may be originally adapted to salty and dry environments, such as that in sandy coasts. The flowering phenology in the sandy coast populations evolved in the late flowering; therefore, late flowering alleles may have been transferred from cropland populations to sandy coast populations. 4. Synthesis. We demonstrated that two congeneric species with different ecological characteristics were introduced through multiple introduction pathways and spread across different habitats. A direct comparison between source and naturalised populations can considerably elucidate the patterns and processes of biological invasions

Acute inflammatory response to colorectal cancer resection according to different laparotomy incision lengths

The aim of this study was to clarify a correlation between acute inflammatory response to surgery and different laparotomy lengths in patients who underwent colorectal cancer resection via a single minimal laparotomy. Between April 2005 and May 2008, 131 consecutive patients (59 women, 72 men), who were scheduled to undergo elective surgery for resection of primary colorectal cancer using a single minimal skin incision, were enrolled in this study to investigate the correlation between postoperative acute inflammatory responses (as measured by serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and white blood cell count (WBC)) and different laparotomy lengths. According to the length of laparotomy, the patients were grouped into 3 categories, "small-incision" ( 7 cm), "medium-incision" (>7 and 14 cm), and "large-incision" (>14 cm) for comparison. Statistical analyses were conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test with multiple comparison post-hoc and chi-square tests. The small-, medium-, and large-incision groups included 68 (51.9%), 42, (32.1%) and 21 (16.0%) patients, respectively. On the 1st postoperative day, median serum levels of CRP and WBC of the small-incision group were significantly lower than those of the medium-incision and large-incision groups (CRP, P=0.0051 and P=0.0015, respectively; WBC, P=0.049 and P =0.0007, respectively). In addition, the median serum levels of CRP and WBC on the 1st postoperative day were proportional to the length of laparotomy. These data suggested that the extent of acute inflammatory response may be proportional to length of laparotomy. In addition, only the use of small-incisions ( 7 cm) among the three investigated categories of laparotomy lengths may be a factor which is associated with statistical significance with minimal invasiveness of colorectal cancer resection

String Theory on G_2 Manifolds Based on Gepner Construction

We study the type II string theories compactified on manifolds of $G_2$ holonomy of the type ({Calabi-Yau 3-fold} \times S^1)/\bz_2 where $CY_3$ sectors realized by the Gepner models. We construct modular invariant partition functions for $G_2$ manifold for arbitrary Gepner models of the Calabi-Yau sector. We note that the conformal blocks contain the tricritical Ising model and find extra massless states in the twisted sectors of the theory when all the levels $k_i$ of minimal models in Gepner constructions are even.Comment: 20 pages, no figure, improvement on some technical points in the discussions of twisted sector

Large Population of ALMA Galaxies at z>6 with Very High [OIII]88um to [CII]158um Flux Ratios: Evidence of Extremely High Ionization Parameter or PDR Deficit?

We present our new ALMA observations targeting [OIII]88um, [CII]158um, [NII]122um, and dust continuum emission for three Lyman break galaxies at z=6.0293-6.2037 identified in the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam survey. We clearly detect [OIII] and [CII] lines from all of the galaxies at 4.3-11.8sigma levels, and identify multi-band dust continuum emission in two of the three galaxies, allowing us to estimate infrared luminosities and dust temperatures simultaneously. In conjunction with previous ALMA observations for six galaxies at z>6, we confirm that all the nine z=6-9 galaxies have high [OIII]/[CII] ratios of L[OIII]/L[CII]~3-20, ~10 times higher than z~0 galaxies. We also find a positive correlation between the [OIII]/[CII] ratio and the Lya equivalent width (EW) at the ~90% confidence level. We carefully investigate physical origins of the high [OIII]/[CII] ratios at z=6-9 using Cloudy, and find that high density of the interstellar medium, low C/O abundance ratio, and the cosmic microwave background attenuation are responsible to only a part of the z=6-9 galaxies. Instead, the observed high [OIII]/[CII] ratios are explained by 10-100 times higher ionization parameters or low photodissociation region (PDR) covering fractions of 0-10%, both of which are consistent with our [NII] observations. The latter scenario can be reproduced with a density bounded nebula with PDR deficit, which would enhance the Lya, Lyman continuum, and C+ ionizing photons escape from galaxies, consistent with the [OIII]/[CII]-Lya EW correlation we find.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Recurrent malignant melanoma of the palate successfully treated by gamma knife radiosurgery

The prognosis of oral malignant melanoma is reported to be extremely poor. In this report, a patient with recurrent oral melanoma in the skull base that was successfully treated by gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) is described. A 53-year-old man was referred with a chief complaint of a mass of the hard palate. The histological diagnosis of a biopsy specimen was malignant melanoma. He underwent a wide local resection with bilateral neck dissection, followed by immunochemotherapy with DAV-Feron. At 13 months postoperatively, a recurrent tumor was found in the posterior lower region of the nasal septum. The patient underwent resection of the lesion, followed by immunochemotherapy with DAC-Tam-Feron. However, at 9 months after the last chemotherapy, local recurrence occurred again in the skull base, and he underwent GKS. The recurrent tumor disappeared completely and he is well with no signs of recurrence or metastasis at 57 months after GKS

Treatment of Surgical Site Infection with Aqua Oxidation Water: Comparison with Povidone Iodine

Aqua oxidation water is a new disinfectant with a bactericidal activity based on high oxidation-reduction potential and acidity. We compared the effectiveness of aqua oxidation water and povidone iodine against the surgical site infection (SSI). The bacteriological effect against several organisms and the efficacy of both disinfectants were almost similar. However, the duration of treatment with aqua oxidation water was shorter than that with the povidone iodine in healed wounds (p<0.05) and the number of patients treated with aqua oxidation water who reported pain was smaller than that with povidone iodine (p<0.05). Our results indicated that aqua oxidation water useful and effective for the treatment of incurable SSI

Pancreatic Pseudocysts - Proposal for Diagnosis and Surgical Management -

To determine the clinical features and problems presented by a pancreatic pseudocyst, eighteen patients managed at our hospitals since 1980 were reviewed. Males predominated with a ratio of 16: 2, and the average age was 36.2 years. Pseudocyst was located in the pancreatic head in 6, in the body in 6, in the tail in 5 and multiple pseudocysts in one case. The cause of pancreatic pseudocyst was chronic pancreatitis in 9 (including 8 patients with histories of alcoholism), acute pancreatitis in 2 and trauma in 7 patients, respectively. Three patients were associated with pancreatic calculi. Rupture of pseudocyst occurred in one patient with multiple cysts. Autopsy showed acute pancreatic necrosis and penetration to the stomach and duodenum. The indications for surgery were principally cyst-related symptoms(infection, hemorrhage, enlargement and compression of adjacent organs) and differential diagnosis from malignancy. Most of the patients underwent internal drainage ; 9 cystojejunostomy, 2 cystogastrostomy). Three patients underwent cystojejunostomy with longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy for chronic pancreatitis. Massive hemorrhage after cystogastrostomy occurred in one patient with infected pseudocysts, which required removal of the cysts. Postoperative outcome of the 17 surgical patients was excellent in 16 patients. Only one patient died of pancreatitis associated with alcohol abuse, resulting in a 5.9% mortality. This study suggests that adequate internal drainage by pancreaticojejunostomy to treat the underlying pancreatic disease is most important to obtain an excellent prognosis in patients with pseudocysts

Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) in Colorectal Cancer - Prognostic Significance of Portal Blood Level -

The prognostic significance of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) values in the drainage vein of the tumor (portal blood levels of CEA) of colorectal cancer patients were evaluated by examining the correlation with the peripheral blood levels of CEA and histopathologic findings of the tumor. 1) Portal blood levels of CEA were significantly increased by the operative procedure. Mean values of CEA in portal blood were higher than those in peripheral blood. Portal blood CEA was correlated with Dukes\u27 staging, and revealed higher positive rates than CEA in peripheral blood in each stage. Elevated CEA levels were noted in those who had cancer infiltration extending through the proper muscle layer. There was a close correlation between portal CEA and CEA content in cancerous tissue (ng/g, wet weight) (p<0.05), but no significant correlation between peripheral CEA level and cancerous tissue CEA (r = 0.372). The mean values of portal CEA in aneuploidy were significantly higher than those in diploidy. These findings indicate that circulating CEA in peripheral blood might be influenced by the metabolic process of CEA in the liver as well as cancer progression rather than CEA production of the tumor. 2) The 5 year survival rate of the patient\u27s group with a negative rate of portal CEA (93%) was far better than that with a positive rate (57%). This study suggested that the portal blood level of CEA in colorectal carcinoma may be very useful for assessment of the patient\u27s survival

ジョウホウ カデン システム ノ アンゼン ケンショウ

家電製品の発展は組込みシステムの発展の歴史でもあり、システムL81の高機能化と組込みソフトウエアが基盤技術として支えてきた.一方で，家電製品に対するユーザからの利便性への声も大きな役割を果たしてきた.もう一つの基盤技術がネットワーク技術で，家電製品をネットワークに接続することで情報家電と呼ばれるシステムにまで発展させた.本稿では情報家電のこれまでの発展と今後の動向を，提供するサーピスと利用形態に基づき3つの世代に分類して説明する.次に，世代が進むにつれて要求品質で扱うべき内容が広がりを見せてきている実態を紹介する.特に，ネットワークに接続されることによって，システムが援雑化しただけでなく，悪意あるユーザからの攻撃に耐えることが要求される.その上，複数の情報家篭が同時に動かされることから，それらの競合が深刻な問題となりつつある.最後に，代表的な実際の事例研究についても紹介する