Circadian locomotor activity in Japanese sea catfish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plotosus lineatus</Emphasis>

To find out whether or not the locomotor activity of the Japanese sea catfish, Plotosus lineatus, shows a circadian rhythmicity, the locomotor activity of this catfish was recorded in a laboratory. All of the catfish recorded (n = 20) showed a nocturnal locomotor activity rhythm under a light–dark (LD) cycle (LD 12:12). The locomotor activity started after the light was turned off, and declined during the period of darkness. In five of the six catfish we examined, locomotor activity shifted gradually over the course of 3–4 days in order to synchronize to the LD cycle after it was advanced by 6 h. Locomotor activity persisted within a constant darkness (DD) in all eight of the catfish. The average free-running period of locomotor activity under DD lasted for 24.2 ± 0.4 h (mean ± SD). Thus, the present results demonstrate that the Japanese sea catfish has an endogenous circadian oscillator entrained by an LD cycle.     

Imbalanced sex ratios and housing prices in the U.S.

This paper investigates whether imbalanced local sex ratios are associated with housing prices in the U.S. at the county level during the period 2000–2017, based on the hypothesis that the importance for men of advertising financial resources by spending more on housing increases in the marriage market where there is a scarcity of women. The results indicate that an increase of 0.1 in sex ratio is associated with approximately a 2% increase in housing prices, suggesting that men may allocate more resources toward mating effort by increasing their spending on housing when there is an abundance of men. There is little evidence that the positive association was greater during the housing bubble.     

Effects of cannabidiol without delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on canine atopic dermatitis: A retrospective assessment of 8 cases

Objective We aimed to examine the effects of cannabidiol (CBD)-containing hemp oil without delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as a supplemental treatment for canine atopic dermatitis (CAD), as well as its adverse effects, and effects on concurrent drug use in dogs.Animal In this retrospective case series, 8 dogs with CAD were diagnosed by veterinary dermatologists certified by the Japanese Society of Veterinary Dermatology.Procedure The medical records of dogs supplemented with CBD-containing hemp oil were evaluated with respect to signalment, physical examination, plasma C-reactive protein concentrations, pharmacologic management, the CAD Extent and Severity Index (4th iteration), and the Pruritus Visual Analog Scale.Results Overall, CBD, used as a supplement in combination with other drugs, was well-tolerated over a wide dose range and decreased the occurrence of pruritus in dogs with CAD when ingested twice a day.Conclusion This study provides the first report of supplementation with CBD without THC that was effective in controlling pruritic behavior in dogs with CAD.Clinical relevance Further controlled studies are required to investigate the dose range, efficacy, and safety.     

Visualizing gas molecules interacting with supported nanoparticulate catalysts at reaction conditions

Understanding how molecules can restructure the surfaces of heterogeneous catalysts under reaction conditions requires methods that can visualize atoms in real space and time. We applied a newly developed aberration-corrected environmental transmission electron microscopy to show that adsorbed carbon monoxide (CO) molecules caused the {100} facets of a gold nanoparticle to reconstruct during CO oxidation at room temperature. The CO molecules adsorbed at the on-top sites of gold atoms in the reconstructed surface, and the energetic favorability of this reconstructed structure was confirmed by ab initio calculations and image simulations. This atomic-scale visualizing method can be applied to help elucidate reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis.     

The cellular basis of GABA(B)-mediated interhemispheric inhibition

Interhemispheric inhibition is thought to mediate cortical rivalry between the two hemispheres through callosal input. The long-lasting form of this inhibition is believed to operate via γ-aminobutyric acid type B (GABA(B)) receptors, but the process is poorly understood at the cellular level. We found that the firing of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in rat somatosensory cortex due to contralateral sensory stimulation was inhibited for hundreds of milliseconds when paired with ipsilateral stimulation. The inhibition acted directly on apical dendrites via layer 1 interneurons but was silent in the absence of pyramidal cell firing, relying on metabotropic inhibition of active dendritic currents recruited during neuronal activity. The results not only reveal the microcircuitry underlying interhemispheric inhibition but also demonstrate the importance of active dendritic properties for cortical output.     

Therapeutic effect of frequent injections of GnRH analogue in a beagle with knobbed acrosome abnormality of sperm

A Beagle dog (3 years old) that ejaculated high percentages (mean ± SE: 29.1 ± 1.2%) of sperm with a knobbed acrosome abnormality and a low number of sperm and that also had a low plasma testosterone (T) level was given 10 subcutaneous injections of 1 μg of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRH-A) at 3-day intervals. The plasma T level and number of sperm increased 12-14 weeks after the first injection. Although the percentages of sperm with knobbed acrosome abnormality did not change after the GnRH-A therapy, the number of sperm and percentage of actively motile sperm increased after the therapy, and a bitch gave birth to 5 healthy puppies after intravaginal artificial insemination with fresh semen collected 14 weeks after the first injection.     

No evidence of horizontal infection in horses kept in close contact with dogs experimentally infected with canine influenza A virus (H3N8)

Background

Since equine influenza A virus (H3N8) was transmitted to dogs in the United States in 2004, the causative virus, which is called canine influenza A virus (CIV), has become widespread in dogs. To date, it has remained unclear whether or not CIV-infected dogs could transmit CIV to horses. To address this, we tested whether or not close contact between horses and dogs experimentally infected with CIV would result in its interspecies transmission.

Methods

Three pairs of animals consisting of a dog inoculated with CIV (10^8.3 egg infectious dose₅₀/dog) and a healthy horse were kept together in individual stalls for 15 consecutive days. During the study, all the dogs and horses were clinically observed. Virus titres in nasal swab extracts and serological responses were also evaluated. In addition, all the animals were subjected to a gross pathological examination after euthanasia.

Results

All three dogs inoculated with CIV exhibited clinical signs including, pyrexia, cough, nasal discharge, virus shedding and seroconversion. Gross pathology revealed lung consolidations in all the dogs, and Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus was isolated from the lesions. Meanwhile, none of the paired horses showed any clinical signs, virus shedding or seroconversion. Moreover, gross pathology revealed no lesions in the respiratory tracts including the lungs of the horses.

Conclusions

These findings may indicate that a single dog infected with CIV is not sufficient to constitute a source of CIV infection in horses.     

Down-regulation of endogenous Wt1 expression by Sry transgene in the murine embryonic mesonephros-derived M15 cell line

Wt1 is one of numerous candidate genes comprising the hypothetical chain of gene expression essential for male sex differentiation of the bipotential indifferent gonads during embryogenesis. However, the evidence in the literature is ambivalent regarding the position of Wt1 relative to Sry in this scheme; Wt1 might act either upstream or downstream of Sry. In the present study, the effects of Sry expression upon Wt1 were investigated using M15 cells (XX karyotype), which are derived from murine embryonic mesonephros and express endogenous Wt1. In 3 stably-transformed Sry-expressing M15 cell lines, we showed that the expression levels of the mRNAs coding for all 4 isoforms of the WT1 proteins were down-regulated. Similarly, Wnt 4 expression was down-regulated in these cell lines. Silencing of Sry in the transformed cell lines using ribozymes or short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) resulted in elevated levels of Wt1 and Wnt4 expression. These results strongly indicate that Wt1 might be under the control of Sry during gonadal differentiation in the mouse. In electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA), we demonstrated that the 3.7 kb 5'-upstream DNA stretch of Wt1 containing potential Sry binding sites was capable of forming molecular complexes with nuclear protein(s) from Sry expressing cells but not with those from control non-Sry expressing cells. In summary, our present results support the notion that Wt1 is located downstream of Sry and down-regulated by the sex determining gene. Although the precise biological meaning of the present findings have yet to be clarified, it is possible that Wt1 plays a dual role during gonadal differentiation, i. e., turning on Sry expression on one hand, and being down-regulated by its product, Sry, on the other, possibly forming a type of negative feed-back mechanism. Further work is needed to substantiate this view.