Localization and function of neurosecretory protein GM, a novel small secretory protein, in the chicken hypothalamus.

Recently, we discovered a novel cDNA encoding the precursor of a small secretory protein, neurosecretory protein GL (NPGL), in the hypothalamic infundibulum of chickens. NPGL plays an important role in the regulation of growth and feeding. A database search indicated that the NPGL gene has a paralogous gene: neurosecretory protein GM (NPGM), also in chickens. We identified cDNA encoding the NPGM precursor in chickens. Morphological analysis showed that NPGM-containing cells are specifically localized in the medial mammillary nucleus (MM) and infundibular nucleus (IN) in the hypothalamus. In addition, we found that NPGM and NPGL are co-localized, especially in the MM. The expression levels of NPGM mRNA gradually decreased during post-hatch development, in contrast to those of NPGL mRNA. Moreover, we investigated the relationship between NPGM and other known factors. NPGM was found to be produced in histaminergic neurons in the MM. NPGM and histidine decarboxylase, a histamine-producing enzyme, displayed similar expression patterns during post-hatch development. Acute intracerebroventricular injection of NPGM decreased food intake, similar to the effect of histamine. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the localization and function of NPGM in the brain of vertebrates. These results will further advance the understanding mechanisms underlying energy homeostasis

Econometric Analysis of Radiata Pine Log Trade between New Zealand and East Asian Countries

There is an increasing interest in the sustainable supply of wood from New Zealand’s plantation forests.This is due to the importance of New Zealand in global trade and uncertainty about the sustainabilityof supply from other countries, such as Russia. The aim of this paper is to identify importantfactors that influence log supply and demand for New Zealand and its key Asian markets (South Korea,Japan and China). To this end we used annual time series data from 1990 to 2008 to estimate exportsupply and import demand functions by two stage least squares with stepwise regression estimation.We found that New Zealand’s log exports to Japan and South Korea are not sensitive to price,but exports to China are sensitive to price, while New Zealand’s total harvest has a stronger influenceon log export supply to China and South Korea. New Zealand’s domestic log consumption competeswith exports to Japan, but does not compete with supply to South Korea or China. Import demand inSouth Korea, Japan, and China for New Zealand logs is negatively affected by import price, with Japan’simport demand the most price-sensitive. The three markets differ in the impact of gross domesticproduct on import demand. Gross domestic product has a strong positive impact on log demand inJapan and China, but a modest impact in South Korea

Author Correction: Localization and function of neurosecretory protein GM, a novel small secretory protein, in the chicken hypothalamus.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper

Dynamin 1 is important for microtubule organization and stabilization in glomerular podocytes

Dynamin 1 is a neuronal endocytic protein that participates in vesicle formation by scission of invaginated membranes. Dynamin 1 is also expressed in the kidney; however, its physiological significance to this organ remains unknown. Here, we show that dynamin 1 is crucial for microtubule organization and stabilization in glomerular podocytes. By immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy, dynamin 1 was concentrated at microtubules at primary processes in rat podocytes. By immunofluorescence of differentiated mouse podocytes (MPCs), dynamin 1 was often colocalized with microtubule bundles, which radially arranged toward periphery of expanded podocyte. In dynamin 1-depleted MPCs by RNAi, alpha-tubulin showed a dispersed linear filament-like localization, and microtubule bundles were rarely observed. Furthermore, dynamin 1 depletion resulted in the formation of discontinuous, short acetylated alpha-tubulin fragments, and the decrease of microtubule-rich protrusions. Dynamins 1 and 2 double-knockout podocytes showed dispersed acetylated alpha-tubulin and rare protrusions. In vitro, dynamin 1 polymerized around microtubules and cross-linked them into bundles, and increased their resistance to the disassembly-inducing reagents Ca(2+)and podophyllotoxin. In addition, overexpression and depletion of dynamin 1 in MPCs increased and decreased the nocodazole resistance of microtubules, respectively. These results suggest that dynamin 1 supports the microtubule bundle formation and participates in the stabilization of microtubules

Thermal Infrared Imaging Experiments of C-Type Asteroid 162173 Ryugu on Hayabusa2

The thermal infrared imager TIR onboard Hayabusa2 has been developed to investigate thermo-physical properties of C-type, near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu. TIR is one of the remote science instruments on Hayabusa2 designed to understand the nature of a volatile-rich solar system small body, but it also has significant mission objectives to provide information on surface physical properties and conditions for sampling site selection as well as the assessment of safe landing operations. TIR is based on a two-dimensional uncooled micro-bolometer array inherited from the Longwave Infrared Camera LIR on Akatsuki (Fukuhara et al., 2011). TIR takes images of thermal infrared emission in 8 to 12 μm with a field of view of 16×12∘ and a spatial resolution of 0.05∘ per pixel. TIR covers the temperature range from 150 to 460 K, including the well calibrated range from 230 to 420 K. Temperature accuracy is within 2 K or better for summed images, and the relative accuracy or noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) at each of pixels is 0.4 K or lower for the well-calibrated temperature range. TIR takes a couple of images with shutter open and closed, the corresponding dark frame, and provides a true thermal image by dark frame subtraction. Data processing involves summation of multiple images, image processing including the StarPixel compression (Hihara et al., 2014), and transfer to the data recorder in the spacecraft digital electronics (DE). We report the scientific and mission objectives of TIR, the requirements and constraints for the instrument specifications, the designed instrumentation and the pre-flight and in-flight performances of TIR, as well as its observation plan during the Hayabusa2 mission

Application of Matched-Filter Concepts to Unbiased Selection of Data in Pump-Probe Experiments with Free Electron Lasers

Pump-probe experiments are commonly used at Free Electron Lasers (FEL) to elucidate the femtosecond dynamics of atoms, molecules, clusters, liquids and solids. Maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurements is often a primary need of the experiment, and the aggregation of repeated, rapid, scans of the pump-probe delay is preferable to a single long-lasting scan. The limited availability of beamtime makes it impractical to repeat measurements indiscriminately, and the large, rapid flow of single-shot data that need to be processed and aggregated into a dataset, makes it difficult to assess the quality of a measurement in real time. In post-analysis it is then necessary to devise unbiased criteria to select or reject datasets, and to assign the weight with which they enter the analysis. One such case was the measurement of the lifetime of Intermolecular Coulombic Decay in the weakly-bound neon dimer. We report on the method we used to accomplish this goal for the pump-probe delay scans that constitute the core of the measurement; namely we report on the use of simple auto- and cross-correlation techniques based on the general concept of “matched filter”. We are able to unambiguously assess the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each scan, which then becomes the weight with which a scan enters the average of multiple scans. We also observe a clear gap in the values of SNR, and we discard all the scans below a SNR of 0.45. We are able to generate an average delay scan profile, suitable for further analysis: in our previous work we used it for comparison with theory. Here we argue that the method is sufficiently simple and devoid of human action to be applicable not only in post-analysis, but also for the real-time assessment of the quality of a dataset

Physical performance disorder（Locomotive syndrome）closely relates to both hypertension and diabetes mellitus which are components of metabolic syndrome

Locomotive syndrome is physical performance disorder in the elderly person. The physical performance disorder can become cause of metabolic syndrome. This study focused on the locomotive syndrome’s relationship to the hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia which are components of the metabolic syndrome. To evaluate the locomotive syndrome, questionnaire score system : brand-new loco-check-score and established locomo-５-score were adopted. In the questionnaire, current medications were also listed especially about hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. A correlation between loco-check-score and locomo-５-score was statistically evaluated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Moreover correlations between body mass index（BMI）and loco-check-score, BMI and locomo-５-score were statistically evaluated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient. In a health consultation event, １４６ persons checked the questionnaire （mean age ７２．５yo）. Differences of the loco-check-score and the locomo-５-score in the hypertension-group, diabetes mellitus group, and the hyperlipidemia group were statistically evaluated by the Mann-Whitney U test respectively. Age matched persons with no medications comprised control groups. Significant differences were observed in the hypertension group and diabetes mellitus group both in the loco-check-score and locomo-５-score systems. These two groups showed significantly high loco-check-score and locomo-５-score than the control groups. The loco-check-score closely related to the locomo-５-score. On the other hand, no relations were observed between BMI and the loco-check-score, and between BMI and the locomo-５-score