Long-term monitoring of the short period SU UMa-type dwarf nova, V844 Herculis

We report on time-resolved CCD photometry of four outbursts of a short-period SU UMa-type dwarf nova, V844 Herculis. We successfully determined the mean superhump periods to be 0.05584(64) days, and 0.055883(3) for the 2002 May superoutburst, and the 2006 April-May superoutburst, respectively. During the 2002 October observations, we confirmed that the outburst is a normal outburst, which is the first recorded normal outburst in V844 Her. We also examined superhump period changes during 2002 May and 2006 April-May superoutbursts, both of which showed increasing superhump period over the course of the plateau stage. In order to examine the long-term behavior of V844 Her, we analyzed archival data over the past ten years since the discovery of this binary. Although photometry is not satisfactory in some superoutbursts, we found that V844 Her showed no precursors and rebrightenings. Based on the long-term light curve, we further confirmed V844 Her has shown almost no normal outbursts despite the fact that the supercycle of the system is estimated to be about 300 days. In order to explain the long-term light curves of V844 Her, evaporation in the accretion disk may play a role in the avoidance of several normal outbursts, which does not contradict with the relatively large X-ray luminosity of V844 Her.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted for PAS

Monitoring of the physiological status as the heat stress tolerance in the rotifer: a novel test for health diagnosis and ecological monitoring

To develop a simple method to evaluate physiological condition of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis, important species as a live-food for aquaculture, we examined the heat stress tolerance using a household microwave oven. The rotifers were previously acclimated at each of 15°C, 20°C and 35°C, and exposed to heat treatment at every 10°C with the highest at 45°C. Subsequently, the animals were returned to the original temperature, and survival rates were recorded until 24 hours after the treatment. Under the 45°C-treatment, the animals acclimated at 15°C showed significantly lower survival rate (29%) than those at 25°C and 35°C with 75% and 84%, respectively. In contrast, under the treatments below 35°C, the survival rates were constant around 80% regardless of the acclimation temperature. These results suggest that the heat stress tolerance can be examined by the microwave oven, and the method will be useful at hatcheries for stable mass culture of the rotifer

Utility of Diagnostic Colonoscopy in Pediatric Intestinal Disease

Background: The roles and methods of diagnostic colonoscopy in pediatric patients were previously demonstrated. With advances in medical equipment and the increasing need for pediatric endoscopic diagnosis, we compared recent results with those previously reported. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on pediatric patients aged ≤15 years, comparing those who underwent their first diagnostic colonoscopy between 1 January 2007 and 28 February 2015 with those who did so between 1 March 2015 and 28 February 2022 at Kurume University Hospital. Results: A total of 274 patients were included, including 110 in the previous study and 164 in the present study. The main indications were hematochezia in the previous study (63/110, 57.3%) and abdominal pain in the present study (64/164, 39.0%). Ulcerative colitis (74/274, 27.0%) was the most common diagnosis in both studies. The major difference from the previous study was an increase in the number of Crohn’s disease and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder cases. Bowel preparation with magnesium citrate was significantly increased across all ages in the present study (142/164, 86.6%). Midazolam + pentazocine was used for sedation in most cases (137/164, 83.5%). An ultrathin upper endoscope was mainly used in patients aged ≤6 years, while ultrathin colonoscopes were applied in patients aged 7–12 years. Conclusion: In the present study, appropriate changes were found in the roles and methods of diagnostic colonoscopy in pediatric patients compared to the previous study. The increasing trend of patients presenting with inflammatory bowel disease and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder worldwide indicates the importance of colonoscopy in infants and children

Doubly <i>N</i>‑Methylated Porphyrinoids

Chirality-induced aromatic π-electronic macrocycles, porphyrin and corroles, were synthesized through doubly inner <i>N</i>-methylation through multistep and one-pot reactions, respectively. The exact structures of doubly <i>N</i>-methylated porphyrin and corroles were revealed by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray analysis, exhibiting two <i>N</i>-methyl groups located on neighboring pyrrole rings in up/down conformations. These doubly inner N-substitutions of the π-electronic macrocycles induced distorted geometries, resulting in chiroptical properties after optical resolutions

Doubly <i>N</i>‑Methylated Porphyrinoids

Chirality-induced aromatic π-electronic macrocycles, porphyrin and corroles, were synthesized through doubly inner <i>N</i>-methylation through multistep and one-pot reactions, respectively. The exact structures of doubly <i>N</i>-methylated porphyrin and corroles were revealed by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray analysis, exhibiting two <i>N</i>-methyl groups located on neighboring pyrrole rings in up/down conformations. These doubly inner N-substitutions of the π-electronic macrocycles induced distorted geometries, resulting in chiroptical properties after optical resolutions

Overdominance effect of the bovine ghrelin receptor (GHSR1a)-DelR242 locus on growth in Japanese Shorthorn weaner bulls: heterozygote advantage in bull selection and molecular mechanisms

Ghrelin and the ghrelin receptor (GHSR1a) are involved in growth hormone secretion, food intake, and several other important functions. Ghrelin acts on GHSR1a and induces signal transduction via the Gαq subunit. In our previous study, we identified the DelR242 (3R) allele, a truncated 3-arginine residue (3R) [major type: 4 arginine residues (4R)] of the third intracellular loop of GHSR1a, with a high frequency in Japanese Shorthorn bulls (0.43) but with a low frequency in other cattle breeds (0.00-0.09). To further investigate the reasons for the higher frequency of the 3R allele, we performed several experiments. In this study, we found a significant sex difference in the frequency of the 3R allele. Statistical analysis revealed a significant overdominance effect of the DelR242 locus on growth in Japanese Shorthorn weaner bulls. However, additive/dominance/overdominance effects of the 3R allele on carcass traits in adult steers and dams were not significant. The mode of the overdominance effect was estimated to be solely controlled by the single DelR242 locus without any other linked loci using linkage disequilibrium analysis in GHSR1a. These results indicated that 4R/3R heterozygotes had a selective advantage in weaner bulls because of their higher average daily gain than homozygotes. We discussed possible molecular mechanisms involved in the overdominance effect of the DelR242 locus on these traits in weaner bulls using a structural model of the complex consisting of a GHSR1a dimer and Gαq