Magnetic resonance imaging of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis in a border collie

A castrated male border collie 23 months of age weighing 19.4 kg was referred to the Animal Medical Center of Nihon University with complaints of visual disturbance and behavioral abnormality, hyperacusis and morbid fear. The MRI examination revealed the slight dilated cerebral sulci and cerebellar fissures and left ventricular enlargement. This is the first report of MRI findings of canine neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.     

中日实学的交流:新井白石与朱之瑜

新井白石曾求学于儒学学者木下顺庵,而木下顺庵与浙江余姚的朱之瑜有交流,新井白石因顺庵举荐,曾出仕德川纲丰的甲府藩,白石一生著述甚丰,其语言学著作有<东雅>、<同文通考>、<东音谱>等书,<东雅>是一部关于古语名词语源的辞典.白石不仅关注一种语言内部的诸种变化,更注意到了多种语言间的相互影响.白石的研究语言的方法,一方面是木下顺庵那种广泛涉猎文献的实证学风的继承,另一方面也是吸收中国明代学术成果的结晶.朱之瑜在日本住了23年,白石著作中多处引用了朱之瑜的话,新     

Structural insights into the assembly of the type III secretion needle complex

Type III secretion systems (TTSSs) mediate translocation of virulence factors into host cells. We report the 17-angstrom resolution structures of a central component of Salmonella typhimurium TTSS, the needle complex, and its assembly precursor, the bacterial envelope-anchored base. Both the base and the fully assembled needle complex adopted multiple oligomeric states in vivo, and needle assembly was accompanied by recruitment of the protein PrgJ as a structural component of the base. Moreover, conformational changes during needle assembly created scaffolds for anchoring both PrgJ and the needle substructure and may provide the basis for substrate-specificity switching during type III secretion.     

Effects of low and high levels of maternal nutrition consumed for the entirety of gestation on the development of muscle,adipose tissue,bone, and the organs of Wagyu cattle fetuses

This study aimed to investigate the effects of high and low levels of energy intake during the entire gestation period on the skeletal muscle development, organ development, and adipose tissue accumulation in fetuses of Wagyu (Japanese Black) cows, a breed with highly marbled beef. Cows were allocated to a high-nutrition (n = 6) group (fed 120% of the nutritional requirement) or low-nutrition (n = 6) group (fed 60% of the nutritional requirement). The cows were artificially inseminated with semen from the same sire, and the fetuses were removed by cesarean section at 260 ± 8.3 days of fetal age and slaughtered. The whole-body, total muscle, adipose, and bone masses of the fetal half-carcasses were significantly higher in the high-nutrition group than the low-nutrition group (p = 0.0018, 0.009, 0.0004, and 0.0362, respectively). Fifteen of 20 individual muscles, five of six fat depots, nine of 17 organs, and seven of 12 bones that were investigated had significantly higher masses in the high-nutrition group than the low-nutrition group. The crude components and amino acid composition of the longissimus muscle significantly differed between the low- and high-nutrition groups. These data indicate that maternal nutrition during gestation has a marked effect on the muscle, bone, and adipose tissue development of Wagyu cattle fetuses.     

Rhizosphere pH Profile of Rice Plant Influenced by Al Treatment

To study the mechanisms of Al tolerance in rice, we focused on the change of rhizosphere pH. The 4-d seedlings were treated with Al solution (0, 10, 50 mM) for 24 h. Then each sample was put on an agarose gel including bromocresol green, so that the color of the gel indicated pH change. During 2-h contact, the pH of rhizosphere was decreased gradually, especially for Al-treated samples, showing the specific pH profiles along the root axis. Pretreatment of sample plants with a decoupling reagent 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) or a plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase inhibitor Na₃VO₄ did not decrease rhizosphere pH. Therefore, it was suggested that the H⁺ secretion activity was involved with Al-tolerant mechanisms of rice.     

Production of interspecific hybrids between Alstroemeria pelegrina L. var. rosea and A. magenta Bayer by ovule culture

Interspecific hybrids were efficiently produced in the cross-incompatible combination between Alstroemeria pelegrina L. var. rosea and A. magenta Bayer by culturing immature ovules with placenta 7–14 days after pollination on 2 g/l Gelrite-solidified MS medium containing 3% (w/v)sucrose. The plants showed intermediate characteristics between the parents and their hybridity was confirmed by karyotype and DNA analyses. The mean number of chromosome association per PMC at metaphase I was 2.60I+6.70II, pollen stainability was20.8%, and they produced viable seeds after self-pollination. Furthermore, mature plants were obtained when the hybrids were backcrossed as male parents with both the parents. The backcross-progeny from A. pelegrina var. rosea × hybrids exhibited 3.8 to 79.7% pollen stainability and that from A. magenta × hybrids 78.8 to 98.3%. Almost all of these plants produced viable seeds after self-pollination, which implies that they can beutilized for breeding of novel cultivars of Alstroemeria. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of ear corn silage supplementation on milk production and milk fatty acid profiles in grazing dairy farms

This study investigated the effects of substituting ear corn silage (ECS) for commercial formula feed on milk production and milk fatty acid profiles in grazing dairy farms during the summer season. A field survey was conducted on five grazing dairy farms in every summer month of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Three of the five farms substituted fresh ECS for the commercial formula feed at a ratio of 2:1 from July of each year (ECS farms). Other farms maintained the same feeding management as before (non‐ECS farms). An interview survey was conducted on each farm to calculate feed intake and milk yield per cow. Feed and milk samples were collected in each survey. Milk compositions and milk fatty acid profiles were determined. The substitution of ECS for the commercial formula feed did not affect milk yield or milk composition, but ECS farms maintained low levels of milk urea compared with non‐ECS farms (p < .01). The ECS substitution also influenced some of the milk fatty acid proportions; C16:0 and C16:1 increased, and trans‐11 C18:1, cis‐9,trans‐11 C18:2, and the sum of polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased, while these fatty acid proportions were maintained in non‐ECS farms throughout the summer season (p < .05).     

Microbial hydrolytic enzyme activity in the sediments of a net cage aquaculture area

Potential microbial extracellular leucine-aminopeptidase (LAP) and β-glucosidase (βGlc) activity in the sediments of a red sea-bream (Pagrus major) aquaculture area were measured. Temporal variations in these enzymatic activities were low and stable from December 1999 to April 2000. They rose but fluctuated widely from May to November 2000. LAP activity in the sediments ranged from 334 to 4461 nmol/g per h in the 0–1-cm layer and from 106 to 258 nmol/g per h in the 4–5-cm layer. βGlc activity ranged from 221 to 4121 nmol/g per h in the 0–1-cm layer and from 18 to 238 nmol/g per h in the 4–5-cm layer. These values were higher than others reported and the organic matter load from the fish farms appeared to promote these enzymatic activities, although the relationship was not linear. The ratio of LAP to βGlc was smaller than other reported values in marine sediments or in water samples from the same aquaculture area, suggesting that not only quantitatively but qualitatively an aspect of organic matter degradation in the sediment might be changed by the heavy supply of organic materials from fish farms.