Soil Characteristics under Three Vegetation Types Associated with Shifting Cultivation in a Mixed Dipterocarp Forest in Sarawak, Malaysia

In order to provide appropriate soil information for the rehabilitation of tropical rainforest ecosystems, we examined the soil morphological, physico-chemical, mineralogical properties and charge characteristics in a degraded mixed dipterocarp forest with three type of vegetation, namely grassland, secondary forest, and remnant forest in Japan Sarawak Friendship Forest, Sarawak, Malaysia. We compared the soil properties at six representative locations differing in topography and vegetation types, with special reference to the effect of anthropogenic activities on the catenary sequence. All the soils were acidic or weakly acidic. Contents of clay, exchangeable Al, Alo, Ald and Fed and the values of the cation exchange capacity and Al saturation increased with depth. The clay mineral composition was dominated by kaolin minerals. The value of point of zero salt effect ranged from 3.0 to 4.0, indicating that the soil was not yet strongly weathered. A catenary sequence of the soils was observed; softer in soil hardness, higher contents of total exchangeable bases in the lower slope plots than in the upper slope plots and higher values of Feo/Fed in the surface horizon in the lower slope plots than in the upper slope plots. However, the effect of anthropogenic activities was observed; higher contents of total exchangeable bases in the grassland than in the other vegetation types. Based on the stable condition on weathering and erosion, the upper slope plot of the remnant forest exhibited a thicker O horizon, lower Feo/Fed values and a relatively high amount of chlorite. Soil variability should be taken into account for appropriate management of rehabilitation in tropical rainforests.     

Concise synthesis of the plant growth regulator theobroxide

A plant growth regulator, theobroxide, which produces potato tubers under noninduced long-day conditions, was synthesized in four steps from dihydrotoluene.     

Cerebrospinal fluid flow on time‐spatial labeling inversion pulse images before and after treatment of congenital hydrocephalus in a dog

A 3‐month‐old male cross‐breed dog presented with signs of progressive diffuse brain disease. Noncommunicating congenital hydrocephalus concurrent with cervical syringomyelia was diagnosed on magnetic resonance images. On time‐spatial labeling inversion pulse (Time‐SLIP) images CSF flow through the mesencephalic aqueduct was poorly defined and there was flow into the syrinx across the craniocervical junction. After percutaneous ventricular drainage and ventriculoperitoneal shunting, CSF flow through the aqueduct was clearly detected and flow into the syrinx disappeared. In addition, CSF flow in the subarachnoid space at the pons and ventral aspect of the cervical subarachnoid space was restored. Signs of neurological dysfunction improved after ventriculoperitoneal shunting and the cerebral parenchyma was increased in thickness on 2‐year follow‐up computed tomography images. Patterns of CSF flow on Time‐SLIP images before and after CSF drainage or ventriculoperitoneal shunting aid in clarifying disease pathogenesis and confirm effects of CSF drainage.     

A collision tumor consisting of granular cell tumor and adenocarcinoma in the uterus of an aged djungarian hamster

A neoplastic nodular lesion consisting of an admixture of granular cell tumor and adenocarcinoma was found in the uterus of a 26-month-old Djungarian hamster. Neoplastic cells of the uterine adenocarcinoma showed an epithelial nature in their growth patterns and by cytokeratin-immunopositive reaction, exhibiting nuclear pleomorphism. The granular cells had an abundant amount of fine granular eosinophilic cytoplasm and eccentric or central nuclei with no nuclear atypia; the granular structures were positive for periodic acid-Schiff with diastase resistance and were confirmed as lysosomes/autophagosomes by electron microscopy; immunohistochemically, the cells reacted to desmin, vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin and negatively for neurogenic, histiocyte/macrophage or epithelial markers, indicating smooth muscle origin. Because these tumors were generated from different cell origins, a diagnosis of collision tumor was made.     

High-resolution linkage mapping of the rat hooded locus

To identify a gene responsible for the hooded phenotype in the rat, high-resolution linkage mapping for the hooded locus was performed using IS (non-hooded) and LEA (hooded) rats. The map revealed that only Kit gene existed in the critical region, suggesting that the Kit is a strong candidate gene. However, mutation was not found in the coding region of the LEA rat Kit gene. Further, the expressions of Kit mRNA were not different in fetal neural tubes and both neonatal and adult skins between IS and LEA rats. Furthermore, Kit-positive cells, possibly melanocytes, were found in the non-pigmented hair follicles of hooded phenotype rats. Several hypotheses are conceivable to account for mechanisms in the appearance of hooded phenotype.     

Effects of fibroblasts derived from the olfactory bulb and nasal olfactory mucosa on proliferation of olfactory ensheathing cells harvested from the olfactory bulb

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) have been reported to promote axonal regeneration when transplanted to rodent spinal cord injury models. OECs are available from the olfactory bulb (OB) and olfactory mucosa (OM). Although harvesting OECs from the OM is less traumatic, OECs originating from the OM are less proliferative than those from the OB (OB-OECs). One possible reason for this difference is coexisting fibroblasts. Here, we examined the effect of coculturing either fibroblasts from the OB (OB-Fibs) or fibroblasts from the OM (OM-Fibs) on the proliferation of OB-OECs. Proliferation of OB-OECs was significantly higher in 5:5 coculture with OB-Fibs and in 7:3 and 5:5 cocultures with OM-Fibs than without fibroblasts. These results indicated that coculture with both OB-Fibs and OM-Fibs promoted the proliferation of OB-OECs.     

Developmental ability of somatic cell nuclear transferred embryos aggregated at the 8-cell stage or 16- to 32-cell stage in cattle

Aggregation of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos in mice is reported to improve full-term development. In the present study, we attempted to improve the development of SCNT embryos by aggregation in cattle. In Experiment 1, to examine the effect of the timing of aggregation on in vitro development of cumulus-cell NT embryos, we aggregated two or three SCNT embryos (2X or 3X embryos) at the 1-cell, 8-cell and 16- to 32-cell stages. Irrespective of the timing of aggregation, 3X embryos developed to the blastocyst stage at a high rate. However, aggregation did not improve the total blastocyst formation rate of the embryos used. The cell numbers of 3X embryos aggregated at the 1-cell stage and 2X embryos tended to be higher than that of single NT embryos (1X embryos). Furthermore, a significant increase in cell number was observed in 3X embryos aggregated at the 8-cell stage and 16- to 32-cell stage. In Experiment 2, we used fibroblast cells as nuclear donors and examined in vitro development of 3X embryos aggregated at the 8-cell stage and 16- to 32-cell stage. As a result, 3X embryos had high blastocyst formation rates and higher cell numbers than 1X embryos, which was consistent with the results of Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, we examined the full-term developmental ability of 3X embryos aggregated at the 8-cell stage and 16- to 32-cell stage. After transfer of fibroblast-derived NT embryos into recipient animals, a significantly higher pregnancy rate was obtained on Day 60 in 3X embryos than in 1X embryos. Two embryos aggregated at 8-cell stage and one embryo aggregated at the 16- to 32-cell stage developed to term, while no pregnancies derived from 1X embryos that lasted to Day 60. However, two of the cloned calves were stillborn. These results suggest that aggregation of the 8-cell stage or 16- to 32-cell stage SCNT embryos may improve the pregnancy rate, but that it cannot reduce the high incidence of fetal loss and stillbirth, which is often observed in bovine SCNT.