Mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations featuring a variety of syllables. Vocalizations are observed during social interactions. In particular, males produce numerous syllables during courtship. ...Previous studies have shown that vocalizations change according to sexual behavior, suggesting that males vary their vocalizations depending on the phase of the courtship sequence. To examine this process, we recorded large sets of mouse vocalizations during male-female interactions and acoustically categorized these sounds into 12 vocal types. We found that males emitted predominantly short syllables during the first minute of interaction, more long syllables in the later phases, and mainly harmonic sounds during mounting. These context- and time-dependent changes in vocalization indicate that vocal communication during courtship in mice consists of at least three stages and imply that each vocalization type has a specific role in a phase of the courtship sequence. Our findings suggest that recording for a sufficiently long time and taking the phase of courtship into consideration could provide more insights into the role of vocalization in mouse courtship behavior in future study.
The amount of oxygen consumed during organic matter remineralization critically depends on how much organic carbon is remineralized per unit dissolved oxygen respired (respiratory quotient, RQ) but ...the global distribution and the mechanisms that control RQ are not well understood. Here we estimate RQ in the surface ocean by using two independent methods, one using satellite‐derived macromolecular composition of phytoplankton and another using objectively gridded nutrient data. Both methods yield mean RQ of ~0.7 with small spatial variability consistent with previous estimates. This pattern is likely to be a result of phytoplankton protein content universally exceeding those of carbohydrates and lipids. At face value, the relative stability of RQ suggests that the remineralization stoichiometry will not affect the ongoing deoxygenation of the world ocean. However, the possibility remains that RQ may increase in the future (e.g., organic matter becoming more carbohydrate‐dominated) and thus ameliorate deoxygenation.
Plain Language Summary
Most organic carbon produced by phytoplankton in the surface ocean is decomposed by bacteria using dissolved oxygen. This process is expected to accelerate under global warming leading to a significant loss of oxygen from the marine ecosystem. In order to accurately estimate the total amount of oxygen consumed during the decomposition of organic matter, we require information on how much organic carbon is respired per unit of oxygen consumed (respiratory quotient). Here we estimate respiratory quotient using two independent methods and demonstrate that the estimates agree in showing a nearly uniform value in large parts of the world ocean. We suggest that this is attributable to the fact that globally, the organic matter is largely made of protein which requires more oxygen than other molecules such as lipid and carbohydrate.
Key Points
A new global estimate of respiratory quotient (RQ) of organic matter is determined using two independent methods
Global ocean respiration stoichiometry is stable, RQ ~0.7 with small spatial variability
Stability of respiration stoichiometry is attributable to the dominance of proteins in phytoplankton biomass
•This numerical model is developed based on 3D discrete meso-scale approach.•New pull-out test is designed for developing the constitutive models of corroded interface.•Effects of non-uniform ...corrosion on the behavior of corroded RC beams are investigated.•Failure of corroded RC beam is successfully simulated by 3D RBSM.•Failure process and beam’s stiffness changing are revealed through the study of simulation results.
Several studies have reported regulatory effects of estrogens on fear conditioning in female rodents. However, these studies used different doses, durations, and/or administration methods, and ...reported inconsistent results. To clarify the effect of estrogen on fear conditioning, we investigated the effects of different doses and durations of estradiol administration on freezing behavior during contextual fear conditioning in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. In Experiment 1, OVX ICR mice received a single subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of either oil vehicle (control, 0.1 ml sesame oil) or varied doses (0.5 μg/0.1 ml, 5 μg/0.1 ml, or 50 μg/0.1 ml) of 17β-estradiol-3-benzoate (EB). Fear conditioning was conducted two days post-EB treatment, and the mice were tested for the learned fear response the following day. In Experiment 2, OVX female mice received an s.c. implantation of a Silastic capsule (I.D. 1.98 × 20.0 mm) containing either vehicle or varied doses (0.05 μg/0.1 ml, 0.5 μg/0.1 ml, 5 μg/0.1 ml, 50 μg/0.1 ml) of EB. Two weeks after implantation, fear conditioning was conducted. During the tests conducted 24 h after conditioning, the high dose EB group showed longer freezing times in both experiments, and lower locomotor activity compared to the control or lower dose groups. In Experiment 3, serum estradiol concentrations of the mice that were treated like those in Experiment 2, were measured; the serum levels of estradiol increased linearly according to the dose of EB administered. The results suggest that mice treated with a high dose of EB exhibit enhanced fear learning, regardless of treatment duration. As a woman's vulnerability to emotional disorders increases in the peripregnancy period, during which estrogen levels are high, the results from the high-dose EB groups may be important for understanding the hormonal mechanisms involved in these disorders.
Objectives
To evaluate the recommendations for multiparametric prostate MRI (mp-MRI) interpretation introduced in the recently updated Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 ...(PI-RADSv2), and investigate the impact of pathologic tumour volume on prostate cancer (PCa) detectability on mpMRI.
Methods
This was an institutional review board (IRB)-approved, retrospective study of 150 PCa patients who underwent mp-MRI before prostatectomy; 169 tumours ≥0.5-mL (any Gleason Score GS) and 37 tumours <0.5-mL (GS ≥4+3) identified on whole-mount pathology maps were located on mp-MRI consisting of T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), diffusion-weighted (DW)-MRI, and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI. Corresponding PI-RADSv2 scores were assigned on each sequence and combined as recommended by PI-RADSv2. We calculated the proportion of PCa foci on whole-mount pathology correctly identified with PI-RADSv2 (dichotomized scores 1–3 vs. 4–5), stratified by pathologic tumour volume.
Results
PI-RADSv2 allowed correct identification of 118/125 (94 %; 95 %CI: 90–99 %) peripheral zone (PZ) and 42/44 (95 %; 95 %CI: 89–100 %) transition zone (TZ) tumours ≥0.5 mL, but only 7/27 (26 %; 95 %CI: 10–42 %) PZ and 2/10 (20 %; 95 %CI: 0–52 %) TZ tumours with a GS ≥4+3, but <0.5 mL. DCE-MRI aided detection of 4/125 PZ tumours ≥0.5 mL and 0/27 PZ tumours <0.5 mL.
Conclusions
PI-RADSv2 correctly identified 94–95 % of PCa foci ≥0.5 mL, but was limited for the assessment of GS ≥4+3 tumours ≤0.5 mL. DCE-MRI offered limited added value to T2WI+DW-MRI.
Key points
• PI-RADSv2 correctly identified 95 % of PCa foci ≥0.5 mL
• PI-RADSv2 was limited for the assessment of GS ≥4+3 tumours ≤0.5 mL
• DCE-MRI offered limited added value to T2WI+DW-MRI
Recent clinical trials have shown that immune-checkpoint blockade yields a clinical response in a subset of individuals with advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We examined whether the ...expression of programmed death–ligand 1 (PD-L1) is related to clinicopathologic or prognostic factors in patients with surgically resected NSCLC.
The expression of PD-L1 was evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis in 164 specimens of surgically resected NSCLC. Cell surface expression of PD-L1 in NSCLC cell lines was quantified by flow cytometry.
Expression of PD-L1 in tumor specimens was significantly higher for women than for men, for never smokers than for smokers, and for patients with adenocarcinoma than for those with squamous cell carcinoma. Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) mutations and adenocarcinoma histology were significantly associated with increased PD-L1 expression in a manner independent of other factors. Cell surface expression of PD-L1 was also significantly higher in NSCLC cell lines positive for activating EGFR mutations than in those with wild-type EGFR. The EGFR inhibitor erlotinib downregulated PD-L1 expression in the former cell lines but not in the latter, suggesting that PD-L1 expression is increased by EGFR signaling conferred by activating EGFR mutations. A high level of PD-L1 expression in resected tumor tissue was associated with a significantly shorter overall survival for NSCLC patients.
High expression of PD-L1 was associated with the presence of EGFR mutations in surgically resected NSCLC and was an independent negative prognostic factor for this disease.
We aimed to investigate factors related to the technique of medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy which might predispose to the development of a lateral hinge fracture.
A total of 71 patients ...with 82 osteotomies were included in the study. Their mean age was 62.9 years (37 to 80). The classification of the type of osteotomy was based on whether it extended beyond the fibular head. The level of the osteotomy was classified according to the height of its endpoint.
At a mean follow-up of 20 months (6 to 52), a total of 15 lateral hinge fractures (18.3%) were identified. A sufficient osteotomy, in which both anterior and posterior tibial cortices were involved with extension into the lateral aspect of the plateau in relation to an anteroposterior line tangential to the medial edge of the fibular head in the CT axial plane, was seen in 48 knees (71.6%) in those without a lateral hinge fracture and in seven (46.7%) in those with a lateral hinge fracture. An osteotomy which ended above the level of the fibular head was seen in nine (13.4%) of the knees without a lateral hinge fracture and seven (46.7%) of the those with a lateral hinge fracture. There was a significant relationship between the absence of a lateral hinge fracture and both a sufficient osteotomy and one whose endpoint was at the level of the fibular head (p = 0.0451 and p = 0.0214, respectively).
A sufficient osteotomy involving both the anterior and posterior cortices, whose endpoint is at the level of the fibular head, should be performed when undertaking a medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy if a lateral hinge fracture is to be avoided as a complication. Cite this article:
2017;99-B:887-93.
Recent studies have documented that self-determined choice does indeed enhance performance. However, the precise neural mechanisms underlying this effect are not well understood. We examined the ...neural correlates of the facilitative effects of self-determined choice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants played a game-like task involving a stopwatch with either a stopwatch they selected (self-determined-choice condition) or one they were assigned without choice (forced-choice condition). Our results showed that self-determined choice enhanced performance on the stopwatch task, despite the fact that the choices were clearly irrelevant to task difficulty. Neuroimaging results showed that failure feedback, compared with success feedback, elicited a drop in the vmPFC activation in the forced-choice condition, but not in the self-determined-choice condition, indicating that negative reward value associated with the failure feedback vanished in the self-determined-choice condition. Moreover, the vmPFC resilience to failure in the self-determined-choice condition was significantly correlated with the increased performance. Striatal responses to failure and success feedback were not modulated by the choice condition, indicating the dissociation between the vmPFC and striatal activation pattern. These findings suggest that the vmPFC plays a unique and critical role in the facilitative effects of self-determined choice on performance.
Shear thinning and brittle failure of silicate melt control the dynamics of volcanic eruptions, but their molecular‐scale origin is still unclear. Here, we conducted tension and compression ...experiments on silicate melts, using time‐resolved X‐ray diffraction. Our experiments revealed that the intermediate‐range ordering of silicate structures, that is, the ring size formed by the SiO4 tetrahedra, demonstrated elastic and anisotropic dilation under tension and shrinkage under compression in the non‐Newtonian regime. In contrast, there were no significant changes in short‐range ordering, such as Si–O and Si–Si distances. Based on these findings, we inferred that shear thinning observed under high stress originates from the formation of anisotropically deformed large and small rings in silicate structures that are energetically unfavorable and unstable. Brittle failure occurred under high‐stress conditions, in both tension and compression. We propose a stress criterion as a necessary and sufficient condition for magma failure, rather than a strain rate criterion.
Plain Language Summary
Explosive volcanic eruptions occur when magma fragments and volcanic gases are released to the surface. However, magma is originally a continuous fluid that behaves like a liquid in the crust. To understand how magma fails during volcanic eruptions, we need to uncover the underlying mechanisms. This challenge was identified over four decades ago, and researchers proposed conducting molecular‐scale experiments on magma deformation to shed light on its complex behavior, including brittle failure. However, this has been difficult to achieve experimentally. In this study, we used powerful X‐ray sources at SPring‐8 in Japan to address this challenge. Our findings reveal that the complex behavior of magma originates from previously unrecognized molecular‐scale elastic and anisotropic deformation. Finally, we propose a criterion for magma failure that can help determine whether an eruption will be explosive.
Key Points
Molecular‐scale elastic and anisotropic deformation of the silicate melt was observed under tension (dilation) and compression (shrinkage)
Formation of large and small rings by the SiO4 tetrahedra could be the origin of shear thinning and brittle failure in the silicate melt
Stress condition is “the necessary and sufficient condition” for the magma failure criterion
Animal fetuses and embryos may have applications in the generation of human organs. Progenitor cells may be an appropriate cell source for regenerative organs because of their safety and ...availability. However, regenerative organs derived from exogenous lineage progenitors in developing animal fetuses have not yet been obtained. Here, we established a combination system through which donor cells could be precisely injected into the nephrogenic zone and native nephron progenitor cells (NPCs) could be eliminated in a time- and tissue-specific manner. We successfully achieved removal of Six2+ NPCs within the nephrogenic niche and complete replacement of transplanted NPCs with donor cells. These NPCs developed into mature glomeruli and renal tubules, and blood flow was observed following transplantation in vivo. Furthermore, this artificial nephron could be obtained using NPCs from different species. Thus, this technique enables in vivo differentiation from progenitor cells into nephrons, providing insights into nephrogenesis and organ regeneration.
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