Ocular infestation by a juvenile leech, Myxobdella sinanensis in Japan

[Purpose] The case of ocular infestation by a leech is rare. We reported that Myxobdella sinanensis infests conjunctiva. [Observations] A 5-year-old girl presented with blood clots in the inner corner of the left eye, and a history bloody eye discharge and bloody tears for 5 days. She was prescribed 0.5% levofloxacin ophthalmic drops for conjunctival damage. However, her parent watched a worm moving in her conjunctiva while taking a bath. She presented again the same day, and a worm was found in the left eye of the lower conjunctival fornix and was adsorbed to the inner corner. We removed a worm under eye drop anesthesia, the next day the patient had no symptoms. We captured the worm, and it was identified morphologically and genetically as Myxobdella sinanensis. This was the first case reported of Myxobdella sinanensis be infestation in a human. [Conclusions and Importance] The ecological trait of Myxobdella sinanensis still did not remain clear, so this case report was helpful to find out a life cycle of Myxobdella sinanensis. As the outdoor population continues to increase, the cases of human parasites such as leech are expected to increase. When a patient with bloody eye discharge and bloody tears presents, we should carefully examine the conjunctiva and ocular surfaces, and interview recent history of exposure to stream water

Utilization of the Inkling™ for the Rey - Osterrieth Complex Figure test

　The Rey - Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test assess visual-construction abilility, visual memory and executive function. Three different methods are traditionally used to track and to record the strokes during the production of the complex figure: single pen, switching felt pens and flowcharts. The Inkling™ is an instrument which attributes are to track, to record and to save the information of every stroke depicted in a standard piece of paper. The purpose of the study is to examine the advantages and disadvantages of using the Inkling™ in the ROCF test. 66 ROCF performances were analyzed from subjects aged 6 to 86 years old. Each subject performed the ROCF test twice; first with pen switching method without flowcharts and later with the Inkling™ or viceversa. The comparison of the performances evidenced 5 characteristics: Four subjects distracted by the color of the felt pens, three subjects interfered by the switching of the felt pens, three subjects which performance was facilitated by the colors of the felt pens, nine subjects with unclear score for Fragmentation and fourteen subjects with unclear score for Planning. The advantages that the Inkling™ showed were compensation for the process of flowcharts, avoid interference, and reduce the burden of unclear scoring for Fragmentation and Planning

Striatal bilateral control of skilled forelimb movement

Skilled motor behavior requires bihemispheric coordination, and participation of striatal outputs originating from two neuronal groups identified by distinctive expression of D1 or D2 dopamine receptors. We trained mice to reach for and grasp a single food pellet and determined how the output pathways differently affected forelimb trajectory and task efficiency. We found that inhibition and excitation of D1-expressing spiny projection neurons (D1SPNs) have a similar effect on kinematics results, as if excitation and inhibition disrupt the whole ensemble dynamics and not exclusively one kind of output. In contrast, D2SPNs participate in control of target accuracy. Further, ex vivo electrophysiological comparison of naive mice and mice exposed to the task showed stronger striatal neuronal connectivity for ipsilateral D1 and contralateral D2 neurons in relation to the paw used. In summary, while the output pathways work together to smoothly execute skill movements, practice of the movement itself changes synaptic patterns.journal articl

Cryo-electron microscopic structure of the nucleoprotein-RNA complex of the European filovirus, Lloviu virus

ヨーロッパに分布するエボラウイルス近縁ウイルスの増殖機構を解明 --広範囲の抗フィロウイルス療法の開発に期待--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-04-10.Lloviu virus (LLOV) is a novel filovirus detected in Schreiber’s bats in Europe. The isolation of the infectious LLOV from bats has raised public health concerns. However, the virological and molecular characteristics of LLOV remain largely unknown. The nucleoprotein (NP) of LLOV encapsidates the viral genomic RNA to form a helical NP-RNA complex, which acts as a scaffold for nucleocapsid formation and de novo viral RNA synthesis. In this study, using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, we determined two structures of the LLOV NP-RNA helical complex, comprising a full-length and a C-terminally truncated NP. The two helical structures were identical, demonstrating that the N-terminal region determines the helical arrangement of the NP. The LLOV NP-RNA protomers displayed a structure similar to that in the Ebola and Marburg virus, but the spatial arrangements in the helix differed. Structure-based mutational analysis identified amino acids involved in the helical assembly and viral RNA synthesis. These structures advance our understanding of the filovirus nucleocapsid formation, and provide a structural basis for the development of anti-filoviral therapeutics

柿タンニンは新型コロナウイルスに対する抗ウイルス効果を持ち、シリアンハムスターモデルにおける新型コロナウイルス感染症の重症度および感染伝播を抑制する

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread across the world. Inactivating the virus in saliva and the oral cavity represents a reasonable approach to prevent human-to-human transmission because the virus is easily transmitted through oral routes by dispersed saliva. Persimmon-derived tannin is a condensed type of tannin that has strong antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. In this study, we investigated the antiviral effects of persimmon-derived tannin against SARS-CoV-2 in both in vitro and in vivo models. We found that persimmon-derived tannin suppressed SARS-CoV-2 titers measured by plaque assay in vitro in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We then created a Syrian hamster model by inoculating SARS-CoV-2 into hamsters' mouths. Oral administration of persimmon-derived tannin dissolved in carboxymethyl cellulose before virus inoculation dramatically reduced the severity of pneumonia with lower virus titers compared with a control group inoculated with carboxymethyl cellulose alone. In addition, pre-administration of tannin to uninfected hamsters reduced hamster-to-hamster transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from a cohoused, infected donor cage mate. These data suggest that oral administration of persimmon-derived tannin may help reduce the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission of the virus.博士（医学）・甲第817号・令和4年3月15日© 2021. The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Canopy Achitecture, Biomass and Fruit Production of Solanum nigrum L. as Determined by Nitrogen Application

ABSTRACT Demand on fruits of Leunca (Solanum nigrum L.) is increasing in Indonesia due to a rapid expansion of ethnic restaurants, especially Sundanese restaurants. Most fruits come from semi-intensive cultivation in intercropping system, leading to low productivity. In order to improve productivity, nitrogen experiment was carried out at field of Leuwikopo Farm of Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor-Indonesia, during rainy season from December 2013 to April 2014. Four levels of nitrogen, i.e., 0, 60, 120, and 180 kg N ha-1, were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The results revealed that canopy architecture, dry matter and fruit production, and fruit quality were highly affected by nitrogen application. Increasing nitrogen levels increased biomass and fruit production. Plants treated with nitrogen at level of 60 kg ha-1 produced ideal height for local labor and stable weekly fruit production than other levels. Hence, N fertilizer is essential for achieving high productivity of S. nigrum.Keywords: canopy shape, fruit load, indigenous vegetable, leunca, ranti kebo ABSTRAK Permintaan buah Leunca (Solanum nigrum L.) terus meningkat di Indonesia sejalan dengan perkembangan restoran etnis khususnya restoran Sunda. Sebagian besar buah leunca berasal dari tanaman sampingan secara tumpangsari, sehingga produktivitas rendah. Dalam rangka meningkatkan produktivitas, percobaan pemberian nitrogen dilakukan di Kebun Percobaan Leuwikopo IPB, Bogor pada musim hujan Desember 2013 sampai April 2014. Nitrogen diberikan empat taraf yaitu 0, 60, 120, dan 180 kg N ha-1, yang disusun dalam rancangan acak kelompok dengan empat ulangan. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa bentuk kanopi, produksi bahan kering dan produksi buah serta kualitas buah dipengaruhi oleh pemberian nitrogen. Peningkatan dosis nitrogen meningkatkan bahan kering dan produksi buah. Tanaman dengan perlakuan 60 kg N ha-1 menghasilkan tinggi yang ideal bagi pemanen, dan hasil mingguan yang stabil dibandingkan dengan taraf yang lebih besar. Oleh karena itu, pemupukan nitrogen penting dilakukan untuk meningkatkan produktivitas leunca.Kata kunci: beban buah, bentuk kanopi, leunca, ranti kebo, sayuran tradisiona