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In this work we investigate the two-neutron decay of 13Li and of the excited states of 11Li populated via one-proton removal from 14Be and 12Be, respectively. A phenomenological model is used to describe the decay of 11Li and 13Li. While the first one displays important sequential components, the second one appears dominated by the direct two-neutron decay. A microscopic three-body model is used to extract information on the spatial configuration of the emitted neutrons before the decay and shows that the average distance between the neutrons increases going from 11Li to 13Li.

The dineutron correlation is systematically studied in three different Borromean nuclei near the neutron dripline, 11Li, 14Be and 17B, via the (p,pn) knockout reaction measured at the RIBF facility in RIKEN. For the three nuclei, the correlation angle between the valence neutrons is found to be largest in the same range of intrinsic momenta, which can be associated to the nuclear surface. This result reinforces the prediction that the formation of the dineutron is universal in environments with low neutron density, such as the surface of neutron-rich Borromean nuclei.

We present an investigation of the structure of 13Be obtained via a kinematically complete measurement of the (p,pn) reaction in inverse kinematics at 265 MeV/nucleon. The relative energy spectrum of 13Be is compared to Transfer-to-the-Continuum calculations which use as structure inputs the overlaps of the 14Be ground-state wave function, computed in a three-body model, with the unbound states of the 13Be residual nucleus. The key role of neutron p-wave orbital in the interpretation of the low-relative-energy part of the spectrum is discussed. Keywords: Quasi-free scattering, Borromean nuclei, Three-body model, Resonances

Females of various species exhibit mounting behavior toward other mature females, i.e., female-female (f-f) mounting. Cows exhibit f-f mounting, which is commonly considered a sexual behavior based on a few similarities with male sexual mounting. Here, we hypothesized that the degree of f-f mounting exhibited by cows in estrus would increase when they are sexually motivated by sexually relevant stimuli. To test this hypothesis, two groups of four cows each were prepared. First, estrus was induced in one of the cows in each group by injecting estradiol in the presence of a non-sexually active male steer as a stimulus animal (steer-stimulus condition), and all f-f mounts were recorded. Estrus induction was repeated until induced in all cows. We then changed the stimulus animal from the steer to a sexually active bull (bull-stimulus condition), and the estrus induction procedures were repeated as before. We confirmed that estrus was induced successfully in cows injected with estradiol and that they were sexually motivated by switching the stimulus animal from steer to bull, as they spent relatively more time with the stimulus animal in the bull-stimulus than in the steer-stimulus condition and when not in estrus. However, f-f mounting frequency in the bull-stimulus condition showed no significant difference to that in the steer-stimulus condition. We observed that six of the eight subjects exhibited f-f mounting when not in estrus, which accounted for 44.6 % of f-f mounting we observed (n = 668). These findings suggest that f-f mounting in cows is not associated with sexual motivation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The maintenance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among wildlife populations poses a potential risk for the emergence of novel variants. Therefore, monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infection among animals is crucial. As urban rodents live in close proximity to human habitats, there is concern that they may be a potential source of zoonoses. To examine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in rodent populations, we analyzed 128 serum samples and 129 oral swabs collected from 128 brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) and 2 black rats (Rattus rattus) captured for pest control purposes in Tokyo, Japan, between May and December 2023. A virus-neutralizing test using the Omicron variant revealed no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in these populations. Real-time RT-PCR from oral swabs did not detect any SARS-CoV-2 RNA-positive rats. These results indicate the low probability of SARS-CoV-2 circulation among rat populations in Tokyo.

The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is known to show three types of behavioral responses to novel objects. Whereas some rats are indifferent to novel objects, neophobic and neophilic rats show avoidance and approach behavior, respectively. Here, we compared the dopaminergic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic systems immunohistochemically among these rats. Trapped wild rats and laboratory rats were first individually exposed to the novel objects in their home cage. Wild rats were divided into neophobic and indifferent rats depending on their behavioral responses. Similarly, laboratory rats were divided into neophilic and indifferent rats. Consistent with the behavioral differences, in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, Fos expression in corticotropin-releasing hormone-containing neurons was higher in the neophobic rats than in the indifferent rats. In the anterior basal amygdala, the neophobic rats showed higher Fos expression than the indifferent rats. In the posterior basal amygdala, the neophobic and neophilic rats showed lower and higher Fos expressions than the indifferent rats, respectively. When we compared the neuromodulatory systems, in the dorsal raphe, the number of serotonergic neurons and Fos expression in serotonergic neurons increased linearly from neophobic to indifferent to neophilic rats. In the ventral tegmental area, Fos expression in dopaminergic neurons was higher in the neophilic rats than in the indifferent rats. These results demonstrate that approach/avoidance behavior to novel objects is correlated with the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in the brown rat. We propose that the serotonergic system suppresses avoidance behavior while the dopaminergic system enhances approach behavior to novel objects., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Social buffering is the phenomenon in which the presence of an affiliative conspecific mitigates stress responses. We previously demonstrated that social buffering completely ameliorates conditioned fear responses in rats. However, the neuromodulators involved in social buffering are poorly understood. Given that opioids, dopamine, oxytocin and vasopressin play an important role in affiliative behaviour, here, we assessed the effects of the most well-known antagonists, naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist), haloperidol (dopamine D2 receptor antagonist), atosiban (oxytocin receptor antagonist) and SR49059 (vasopressin V1a receptor antagonist), on social buffering. In Experiment 1, fear-conditioned male subjects were intraperitoneally administered one of the four antagonists 25 min prior to exposure to a conditioned stimulus with an unfamiliar non-conditioned rat. Naloxone, but not the other three antagonists, increased freezing and decreased walking and investigation as compared with saline administration. In Experiment 2, identical naloxone administration did not affect locomotor activity, anxiety-like behaviour or freezing in an open-field test. In Experiment 3, after confirming that the same naloxone administration again increased conditioned fear responses, as done in Experiment 1, we measured Fos expression in 16 brain regions. Compared with saline, naloxone increased Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and decreased Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens shell, anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex and tended to decrease Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens core. Based on these results, we suggest that naloxone blocks social buffering of conditioned fear responses in male rats., (© 2024 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The structure and decay of the most neutron-rich beryllium isotope, ^{16}Be, has been investigated following proton knockout from a high-energy ^{17}B beam. Two relatively narrow resonances were observed for the first time, with energies of 0.84(3) and 2.15(5) MeV above the two-neutron decay threshold and widths of 0.32(8) and 0.95(15) MeV, respectively. These were assigned to be the ground (J^{π}=0^{+}) and first excited (2^{+}) state, with E_{x}=1.31(6)  MeV. The mass excess of ^{16}Be was thus deduced to be 56.93(13) MeV, some 0.5 MeV more bound than the only previous measurement. Both states were observed to decay by direct two-neutron emission. Calculations incorporating the evolution of the wave function during the decay as a genuine three-body process reproduced the principal characteristics of the neutron-neutron energy spectra for both levels, indicating that the ground state exhibits a strong spatially compact dineutron component, while the 2^{+} level presents a far more diffuse neutron-neutron distribution.

Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), roof rats (Rattus rattus), and house mice (Mus musculus) are considered to be important pests on livestock farms. Although the diel activity patterns of rodents are key to their control, information on this aspect of their ecology is limited. Furthermore, the effect of carnivores on rodent activity patterns as well as the carnivore species present on livestock farms is unclear. Here, we set camera traps in an open-type cow barn and in an enclosed pig barn on the same livestock farm in Japan from August through October 2021. The only rodents observed in both barns were roof rats, and the carnivore species observed were dogs (Canis familiaris), cats (Felis catus), and Japanese weasels (Mustela itatsi). Roof rats showed different patterns of activity and behavior between the barns. However, because the pattern in both barns was nocturnal, the activity patterns of roof rats and carnivores showed a moderate to high degree of overlap. Therefore, roof rats did not appear to shift their activity patterns to avoid nocturnal carnivores. Taken together, the present study provides valuable information for rodent control on livestock farms in Japan., (© 2024 The Author(s). Animal Science Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Society of Animal Science.)

Objective: Childhood is an important period for lip-closing strength (LCS) development, and failure to acquire LCS during childhood leads to various adverse health effects, such as mouth breathing. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of device-free lip and facial training in preschool children., Design: The participants were divided into training and control groups. Both groups comprised 123 children aged 3-4 years, and only the training group received lip and facial training (i.e., opening and closing the lips and protruding the tongue) for 1 year. A two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to compare the interaction effects of LCS and facial linear distance and angle by year (initial year vs. 1 year later) and group (training vs. control group). In addition, paired t-tests were used to test the changes in LCS and facial linear distance and angle after 1 year in both groups. Furthermore, the same analysis was performed in children with weak LCS in both groups (incompetent lip seal [ILS])., Results: The LCS of children in the training group significantly increased after training compared with that in the control group, whether the analysis included all children or children with ILS alone. Lip and facial training for children with ILS reduced both the upper and lower lip protrusion; children with ILS without training had increased lip protrusion after 1 year., Conclusions: Lip and facial training for children with ILS effectively improved LCS and lip morphology, thereby preventing increased lip protrusion., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest A conflict of interest exists when an author or the author's institution has financial or personal relationships with other people or organisations that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions. Financial relationships are easily identifiable, but conflicts can also occur because of personal relationships, academic competition, or intellectual passion. A conflict can be actual or potential, and full disclosure to The Editor is the safest course. Nothing particular., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Social buffering is a phenomenon where stress responses are ameliorated by an affiliative conspecific. Our previous findings suggest that the posterior complex of the anterior olfactory nucleus (AOP) is well positioned to participate in the neural mechanisms underlying social buffering. However, the lack of anatomical information prevents us from further estimating the role of the AOP. Here, we obtained anatomical information regarding the AOP in male rats. In Experiment 1 (n = 5), among 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-positive cells in the AOP, the proportion of glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67)-positive cells was 13.8% ± 1.2%. In Experiment 2 (n = 5), among the cells that were labeled by a retrograde tracer injected into the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA), the proportion of GAD67-positive cells was 18.6% ± 0.8%. In Experiment 3 (n = 5), we demonstrated the existence of cells that were labeled by the retrograde tracer injected into the posterior part of the medial amygdala (MeP), mostly into the ventral part of the MeP. In addition, the proportion of GAD67-positive cells among the tracer-labeled cells was 21.7% ± 1.7%. In Experiment 4 (n = 3), the retrograde tracers were injected into the BLA and MeP, mostly into the ventral part of the MeP. The proportion of double-labeled cells among the tracer-labeled cells was 2.1% ± 1.2%. Taken together, these results suggest that the AOP is predominantly composed of glutamatergic neurons. In addition, the AOP sends mutually independent glutamatergic-predominant projections to the BLA and MeP., (Copyright © 2023 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In rats, a mixture of hexanal and 4-methylpentanal is a main component of the alarm pheromone. When detected by the main olfactory system (MOS) and the vomeronasal system, respectively, they activate the anterior part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTa). Therefore, the information from the two olfactory systems is expected to be integrated before being transmitted to the BNSTa. To specify the integration site, we examined Fos expression in 16 brain regions in response to water (n = 10), hexanal (n = 9), 4-methylpentanal (n = 9), the mixture (n = 9), or the alarm pheromone (n = 9) in male rats. The posteroventral part of the medial amygdala showed increased Fos expression to hexanal and 4-methylpentanal. The expression was further increased by the mixture. Therefore, this region is suggested as the integration site. In addition, the BNSTa, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and anteroventral, anterodorsal, and posterodorsal parts of the medial amygdala were suggested to be located downstream of the integrated site because only the mixture increased Fos expression. We suggest that the posterolateral part of the cortical amygdala is upstream of the integration site in the MOS because all stimuli increased Fos expression. The posterior part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and posteromedial part of the cortical amygdala were suggested as being located upstream in the vomeronasal system because 4-methylpentanal and the mixture increased Fos expression. These results provide information about the neural pathway underlying the alarm pheromone effects., (Copyright © 2023 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ) is one of the major animals both in the laboratory and in urban centers. Brown rats communicate various types of information using pheromones, the chemicals that mediate intra-species communication in minute amounts. Therefore, analyses of pheromones would further our understanding of the mode of life of rats. We show that a minute amount of 2-methylbutyric acid (2-MB) released from the neck region can ameliorate fear responses both in laboratory rats and in wild brown rats. Based on these findings, we conclude that 2-MB is an appeasing pheromone in the brown rat. A better understanding of rats themselves would allow us to perform more effective ecologically based research on social skills and pest management campaigns with low animal welfare impacts, which might contribute to furthering the advancement of science and improving public health., Competing Interests: The authors (Y.K., S.T., and S.N.) have a patent application that is based on this study., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Objectives: A set of orofacial signs and symptoms completely or partially present in individuals who replace the correct pattern of nasal breathing with an oral or mixed pattern is defined as mouth breathing syndrome (MBS). In a previous report, it was clarified that an incompetent lip seal (ILS) affected the occurrence of MBS among primary school children. However, the factors related to MBS and the effect of ILS in preschool children remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to clarify the factors relevant to MBS in preschool children and investigate the relationship of ILS to MBS., Material and Methods: We surveyed 285 preschool children between 3 and 5 years of age. Their guardians completed the questionnaire, which consisted of 44 questions regarding the children's daily health conditions and lifestyle habits. To classify the closely related questions into their respective factors and to examine the strength of the correlation between the newly revealed factors, an exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation was performed., Results: The factor analysis identified nine items representing four factors. Factors 1-4 were defined as "diseases of the nose," "ILS," "problem with swallowing and chewing," and "eating and drinking habits," respectively. Factor 2 most strongly correlated with Factor 1, and both Factors showed a relatively strong correlation with Factor 3., Conclusions: The initial stage of MBS may be present in preschool children. ILS and diseases of the nose can cause poor development of oral functions, such as breathing and eating., (© 2022 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Dental Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Tissue-specific stem cells exist in tissues and organs, such as skin and bone marrow. However, their pluripotency is limited compared to embryonic stem cells. Culturing primary cells on plastic tissue culture dishes can result in the loss of multipotency, because of the inability of tissue-specific stem cells to survive in feeder-less dishes. Recent findings suggest that culturing primary cells in medium containing feeder cells, particularly genetically modified feeder cells expressing growth factors, may be beneficial for their survival and proliferation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elucidate the role of genetically modified human feeder cells expressing growth factors in maintaining the integrity of primary cultured human deciduous dental pulp cells. Feeder cells expressing leukemia inhibitory factor, bone morphogenetic protein 4, and basic fibroblast growth factor were successfully engineered, as evidenced by PCR. Co-culturing with mitomycin-C-treated feeder cells enhanced the proliferation of newly isolated human deciduous dental pulp cells, promoted their differentiation into adipocytes and neurons, and maintained their stemness properties. Our findings suggest that genetically modified human feeder cells may be used to maintain the integrity of primary cultured human deciduous dental pulp cells.

It is of interest to determine whether and how egg-white proteins are maintained in fertile eggs. We previously observed that egg-white ovalbumin attained high stability during embryogenesis. Herein, we observed that the total mass of egg white and that of its gross protein content showed a decrease according to the days of incubation. The total bacteriolytic activity also lowered, in accord with previous observations. We purified lysozyme from egg-white samples on several incubation days. These purified lysozyme proteins were observed to have enzymatic and bacteriolytic activities against Micrococcus lysodeikticus as well as growth-inhibition potency against Staphylococcus aureus. As the embryogenesis proceeded, the purified lysozyme showed changes in Km and Vmax, a small decrease in the denaturation temperature, and symptoms of an increase in surface hydrophobicity. These results indicate that the lysozyme protein maintained its enzymatic and antibacterial activities until the late period of incubation while undergoing slight conformational changes., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry.)

Humans show distinct social behaviours when we evaluate an individual as being a member of the same group and recognize social similarity to the individual. One example is more accurate identification of emotion in that individual. Our previous studies proposed that rats recognize social similarity to certain strains of unfamiliar rats. It is therefore possible that the strain of unfamiliar conspecifics affects stress identification in rats. Wistar subject rats were allowed to explore a pair of unfamiliar Wistar, Sprague-Dawley (SD), Long-Evans (LE), or Fischer344 (F344) stimulus rats. To induce differences in stress, one of the stimulus rats had received foot shocks immediately before the test. It was found that the subjects showed biased interaction towards the shocked Wistar and SD stimulus rats, but not toward the shocked LE or F344 stimulus rats. Subsequent experiments confirmed that the biased interaction towards the shocked Wistar and SD stimulus rats was driven by stress in these stimulus rats. In addition, the lack of biased interaction towards the shocked LE and F344 stimulus rats did not appear to be due to procedural reasons. The experiment using LE subject rats further confirmed that the shocked LE stimulus rats emitted distress signals. These results suggested that Wistar rats could identify stress in unfamiliar Wistar and SD rats, but not in unfamiliar LE or F344 rats. Therefore, rats appear to recognize social similarity to certain unfamiliar strains of rats., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report a case of Broca's aphasia in a left-handed patient with a right brain infarction. The patient's speech is consistent with a particular type of aphemia, that is, without vocalization except for a few phonemes or words. The patient presented with aphonia in an early stage. The lack of speech could be due to the impairment of the phonological-speech process or speech initialization. This type of aphemia has been reported to involve the right inferior precentral gyrus or right middle and inferior frontal gyri. Our patient had both lesions. The symptom and the lesion of this type of aphemia could differ from those of another type of aphemia corresponding to apraxia of speech, and the speech of Broca's aphasia could have multiple mechanisms. Our case shows Alexander's anomalous type with atypical lateralization and distribution of the lesion. Verbal intrahemispheric dissociation apraxia was suspected in our patient. The coexistence of aphasia, anosodiaphoria of hemiplegia is a dual symptom in which bilateral hemispheric functions exist in a unilateral hemisphere. (Received 1 December, 2021; Accepted 1 February, 2022; Published 1 April, 2022).

Social buffering is the phenomenon in which an affiliative conspecific (associate) ameliorates stress responses of a subject. We previously found that social buffering in Wistar subject rats is induced if the strain of the associate is Wistar or a strain derived from Wistar rats. In the present study, we assessed the possible role of medial amygdala (Me) in this strain-dependent induction of social buffering. The subjects were exposed to the conditioned stimulus (CS) that had been paired or unpaired with a foot shock either alone, with an unfamiliar Wistar associate, or with an unfamiliar Fischer 344 (F344) associate. We found that the Wistar associates, but not F344 associates, ameliorated increased freezing and Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and lateral amygdala caused by the CS. In addition, Fos expression in the posterior complex of the anterior olfactory nucleus and lateral intercalated cell mass of the amygdala was increased simultaneously. These results suggest that Wistar associates, but not F344 associates, induced social buffering. In the Me, we did not find any differences associated with stress responses or amelioration of stress responses. In contrast, a comparison among the unpaired subjects found that the Wistar associates, but not F344 associates, increased exploratory behavior and Fos expression in the posteroventral subdivision of the Me (MePV). Based on these results, we propose that the MePV is involved in the recognition of social similarity with the associates. Taken together, the present study provides information about the possible role of Me in social buffering., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Because rats are commensal organisms that depend on human activities for food, shifts in human behavior will have pronounced effects on local rat populations. In the spring of 2020, social distancing measures were implemented globally to curtail the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This presented a unique opportunity to obtain information regarding the immediate effects of shifts in human behavior on rat populations in a variety of countries. In response to increased sightings of rats in the USA that were reported in American media, we analyzed the changes in the number of public service calls in Tokyo, Japan. We found that the number of calls increased after the implementation of social distancing measures, suggesting that rat sightings had also increased in Tokyo. We then surveyed the changes in the business activities of pest management professionals in the USA, Canada, and Tokyo. We found that the activities were increased in 50 to 60% of the respondents from the USA and Canada. In contrast, 60 to 70% of the respondents from Tokyo answered that their activities were not changed. These results implied that, following the implementation of social distancing measures, rat infestations increased in North America, but not in Tokyo. The survey also suggested that roof rats were considered to be the predominant rodent species in Tokyo. This may account for the limited infestations in Tokyo because roof rats are more sedentary than brown rats. Taken together, our findings suggest that social distancing measures differentially affected rat populations in North America and Tokyo., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10340-021-01405-z., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021.)

Objective: ndoscopic laryngopharyngeal surgery (ELPS) is a useful surgery for superficial cancers of the head and neck region, but it has not yet been well evaluated for synchronous multiple primary cancers (multiple primaries). The purpose of this study was to clarify the safety and usefulness of ELPS for patients with multiple superficial primary cancers in the head and neck region., Methods: rom December 2009 to December 2016, 145patients with superficial head and neck cancers underwent ELPS. The patients were divided into two groups; a group consisting of patients with a single primary cancer (single primary) and another group consisting of patients with synchronous multiple primaries, and the incidences of postoperative complications and lymph node metastasis were retrospectively compared between the two groups., Results: f the 145 patients, 107 had a single primary cancer and 38 had multiple primaries. There was no significant difference in the age, sex, or rate of intraepithelial cancer between the two groups. Postoperative complications included dysphagia in 6 (5.6%) patients with a single primary and 2 (5.3%) patients with multiple primaries. One patient with multiple primaries required gastrostomy because of aspiration pneumonia. In addition, the following complications were also observed. Laryngeal paralysis occurred in 2 (1.9%) patients with a single primary, and 1 (2.6%) patient with multiple primaries; tracheostomy because of postoperative bleeding in 1 (0.9%) patient with a single primary; infection occurred in 2 (5.3%) patients with multiple primaries. Postoperative lymph node metastasis was found in 7 (6.5%) patients with a single primary and 6 (15.8%) patients with multiple primaries. Lymphatic invasion of the primary cancer was noted in 3 (2.8%) patients with a single primary and 5 (13.2%) patients with multiple primaries, being significantly higher in the latter group., Conclusion: ELPS is also a safe surgery for patients with multiple primaries. However, the incidence of lymphatic invasion of the primary cancer was significantly higher in patients with multiple primaries., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a ubiquitous membrane-bound glycoprotein capable of providing inorganic phosphate by catalyzing the hydrolysis of organic phosphate esters, or removing inorganic pyrophosphate that inhibits calcification. In humans, four forms of ALP cDNA have been cloned, among which tissue-nonspecific ALP (TNSALP) (TNSALP) is widely distributed in the liver, bone, and kidney, making it an important marker in clinical and basic research. Interestingly, TNSALP is highly expressed in juvenile cells, such as pluripotent stem cells (i.e., embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)) and somatic stem cells (i.e., neuronal stem cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells). Hypophosphatasia is a genetic disorder causing defects in bone and tooth development as well as neurogenesis. Mutations in the gene coding for TNSALP are thought to be responsible for the abnormalities, suggesting the essential role of TNSALP in these events. Moreover, a reverse-genetics-based study using mice revealed that TNSALP is important in bone and tooth development as well as neurogenesis. However, little is known about the role of TNSALP in the maintenance and differentiation of juvenile cells. Recently, it was reported that cells enriched with TNSALP are more easily reprogrammed into iPSCs than those with less TNSALP. Furthermore, in bone marrow stem cells, ALP could function as a "signal regulator" deciding the fate of these cells. In this review, we summarize the properties of ALP and the background of ALP gene analysis and its manipulation, with a special focus on the potential role of TNSALP in the generation (and possibly maintenance) of juvenile cells.

Humans show distinct social behaviours when we recognise social similarity in opponents that are members of the same social group. However, little attention has been paid to the role of social similarity in non-human animals. In the Wistar subject rats, the presence of an unfamiliar Wistar rat mitigated stress responses, suggesting the importance of social similarity in this stress-buffering phenomenon. We subsequently found that the presence of unfamiliar Sprague-Dawley (SD) or Long-Evans (LE) rats, but not an unfamiliar Fischer 344 (F344) rat, similarly mitigated stress responses in the subject rats. It is therefore possible that the subject rats recognised social similarity to unfamiliar SD and LE rats. In this study, we demonstrated that the Wistar subject rats were capable of categorizing unfamiliar rats based on their strain, and that the Wistar subjects showed a preference for unfamiliar Wistar, SD, and LE rats over F344 rats. However, the subject rats did not show a preference among Wistar, SD, and LE rats. In addition, the results were not due to an aversion to F344 rats, and preference was not affected when anaesthetised rats were presented to the subject rats. The findings suggested that rats recognise social similarity to certain unfamiliar strains of rats., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: We aim to clarify the frequency of lymph node metastasis of external auditory canal (EAC) carcinoma, including susceptible locations, adequate extent of elective neck dissection, and the relationship between the tumor infiltration site and lymph node metastasis., Patients and Methods: From 2003 to 2018, 63 patients with EAC carcinoma at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital were enrolled in this study. The T and N stages, locations of clinically positive lymph nodes, prognoses, and anatomic site of tumor infiltration were analyzed after treatment., Results: Clinically positive lymph node metastasis (cN+) was detected in 18 patients (28.6%), consisting of T1, T2, T3, and T4 disease in 1 (6%), 2 (22%), 8 (38%), and 7 (41%) patients, respectively. The metastatic locations were at level II in 10 patients, parotid gland nodes in 7, preauricular nodes in 5, level Ib in 3, level Va in 3, level III in 1, and superficial cervical nodes in 1. Neck recurrence was determined in two of 45 patients with clinically negative lymph nodes (cN0), with the metastatic locations being levels II, Ib, and III. Among 18 cN+ cases, neck recurrence was noted in 2 of 9 patients who underwent neck dissection. Neck lesions were found to be manageable in all five patients who underwent docetaxel, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and radiation therapy (TPF-RT). No relationship was noted between the tumor infiltration site and lymph node metastasis among T3/4 canrcinoma patients., Conclusions: Elective neck dissection could be indicated only in T3/4 patients with free flap reconstruction. Levels Ib to III are considered appropriate for elective neck dissection in cN0 cases. Levels Ib to III and Va indicated favorable sites, even in cases with metastasis in the parotid gland or preauricular area. Furthermore, TPF-RT could be a useful option even in cN+ cases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Expression of stemness factors, such as octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4 (OCT3/4), sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in human deciduous tooth-derived dental pulp cells (HDDPCs) can be assessed through fixation and subsequent immuno- or cytochemical staining. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), a powerful system to collect cells of interest, is limited by the instrument cost and difficulty in handling. Magnetic-activated cell sorting is inexpensive compared to FACS, but is confined to cells with surface expression of the target molecule. In this study, a simple and inexpensive method was developed for the molecular analysis of immuno- or cytochemically stained cells with intracellular expression of a target molecule, through isolation of a few cells under a dissecting microscope using a mouthpiece-controlled micropipette., Results: Two or more colored cells (~ 10), after staining with a chromogen such a 3,3'-diaminobenzidine, were successfully segregated from unstained cells. Expression of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, a housekeeping gene, was discernible in all samples, while the expression of stemness genes (such as OCT3/4, SOX2, and ALP) was confined to positively stained cells., Conclusion: These findings indicate the fidelity of these approaches in profiling cells exhibiting cytoplasmic or nuclear localization of stemness-specific gene products at a small-scale.

Induced tissue-specific stem cells (iTSCs) are partially reprogrammed cells which have an intermediate state, such as progenitors or stem cells. They originate from the de-differentiation of differentiated somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells, such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs), or from the differentiation of undifferentiated cells. They show a limited capacity to differentiate and a morphology similar to that of somatic cell stem cells present in tissues, but distinct from that of iPSCs and ESCs. iTSCs can be generally obtained 7 to 10 days after reprogramming of somatic cells with Yamanaka's factors, and their fibroblast-like morphology remains unaltered. iTSCs can also be obtained directly from iPSCs cultured under conditions allowing cellular differentiation. In this case, to effectively induce iTSCs, additional treatment is required, as exemplified by the conversion of iPSCs into naïve iPSCs. iTSCs can proliferate continuously in vitro, but when transplanted into immunocompromised mice, they fail to generate solid tumors (teratomas), implying loss of tumorigenic potential. The low tendency of iTSCs to elicit tumors is beneficial, especially considering applications for regenerative medicine in humans. Several iTSC types have been identified, including iTS-L, iTS-P, and iTS-D, obtained by reprogramming hepatocytes, pancreatic cells, and deciduous tooth-derived dental pulp cells, respectively. This review provides a brief overview of iPSCs and discusses recent advances in the establishment of iTSCs and their possible applications in regenerative medicine.

A kinematically complete quasifree (p,pn) experiment in inverse kinematics was performed to study the structure of the Borromean nucleus ^{17}B, which had long been considered to have a neutron halo. By analyzing the momentum distributions and exclusive cross sections, we obtained the spectroscopic factors for 1s_{1/2} and 0d_{5/2} orbitals, and a surprisingly small percentage of 9(2)% was determined for 1s_{1/2}. Our finding of such a small 1s_{1/2} component and the halo features reported in prior experiments can be explained by the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum, revealing a definite but not dominant neutron halo in ^{17}B. The present work gives the smallest s- or p-orbital component among known nuclei exhibiting halo features and implies that the dominant occupation of s or p orbitals is not a prerequisite for the occurrence of a neutron halo.

Exposure to novel objects typically evokes avoidance behavior in wild animals, which is called neophobia. We previously found that wild brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) that were trapped in a park in downtown Tokyo, Japan, exhibited neophobia. We also found that this behavior was accompanied by the activation of the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). Previous studies have suggested that genetic factors are the primary determinants of neophobia. Since rats in cities form populations with distinct genetic characteristics, it is reasonable to assume that wild rats caught at different locations in urban centers will exhibit different levels of neophobia. Here we assessed the intensity of neophobia in wild rats trapped at a wholesale market in Tokyo. Although we performed exactly the same experiment in which neophobia was observed in wild rats trapped at the park, the presence of novel objects did not affect the behaviors of wild rats trapped at the market. Conversely, laboratory rats showed approach and exploratory behaviors as seen in the previous study, suggesting that the experiment was performed appropriately. Compared to the laboratory rats, the lack of behavioral changes in the wild rats was accompanied by fewer Fos immunoreactive cells in the BLA. In addition, the numbers of Fos immunoreactive cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and ventromedial hypothalamus were similar between the two types of rats. The results demonstrated the existence of wild rats that were indifferent to novel objects.

The formation of a dineutron in the ^{11}Li nucleus is found to be localized to the surface region. The experiment measured the intrinsic momentum of the struck neutron in ^{11}Li via the (p,pn) knockout reaction at 246  MeV/nucleon. The correlation angle between the two neutrons is, for the first time, measured as a function of the intrinsic neutron momentum. A comparison with reaction calculations reveals the localization of the dineutron at r∼3.6  fm. The results also support the density dependence of dineutron formation as deduced from Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations for nuclear matter.

We performed the first direct mass measurements of neutron-rich scandium, titanium, and vanadium isotopes around the neutron number 40 at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory using the time-of-flight magnetic-rigidity technique. The atomic mass excesses of ^{58-60}Sc, ^{60-62}Ti, and ^{62-64}V were measured for the first time. The experimental results show that the two-neutron separation energies in the vicinity of ^{62}Ti increase compared to neighboring nuclei. This shows that the masses of Ti isotopes near N=40 are affected by the Jahn-Teller effect. Therefore, a development of Jahn-Teller stabilization appears below the Cr isotopes, and the systematics in Sc, Ti, and V isotopes suggest that ^{62}Ti is located close to the peak of the Jahn-Teller effect.