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Olfactory perception depends not only on olfactory inputs but also on semantic context. Although multi‐voxel activity patterns of the piriform cortex, a part of the primary olfactory cortex, have been shown to represent odor perception, it remains unclear whether semantic contexts modulate odor representation in this region. Here, we investigated whether multi‐voxel activity patterns in the piriform cortex change when semantic context modulates odor perception and, if so, whether the modulated areas communicate with brain regions involved in semantic and memory processing beyond the piriform cortex. We also explored regional differences within the piriform cortex, which are influenced by olfactory input and semantic context. We used 2 × 2 combinations of word labels and odorants that were perceived as congruent and measured piriform activity with a 1‐mm isotropic resolution using 7T MRI. We found that identical odorants labeled with different words were perceived differently. This labeling effect was observed in multi‐voxel activity patterns in the piriform cortex, as the searchlight decoding analysis distinguished identical odors with different labels for half of the examined stimulus pairs. Significant functional connectivity was observed between parts of the piriform cortex that were modulated by labels and regions associated with semantic and memory processing. While the piriform multi‐voxel patterns evoked by different olfactory inputs were also distinguishable, the decoding accuracy was significant for only one stimulus pair, preventing definitive conclusions regarding the locational differences between areas influenced by word labels and olfactory inputs. These results suggest that multi‐voxel patterns of piriform activity can be modulated by semantic context, possibly due to communication between the piriform cortex and the semantic and memory regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, countries have implemented various strategies to reduce and slow the spread of the disease in the general population. For countries that have implemented restrictions on its population in a stepwise manner, monitoring of COVID-19 prevalence is of importance to guide the decision on when to impose new, or when to abolish old, restrictions. We are here determining whether measures of odor intensity in a large sample can serve as one such measure. Online measures of how intense common household odors are perceived and symptoms of COVID-19 were collected from 2440 Swedes. Average odor intensity ratings were then compared to predicted COVID-19 population prevalence over time in the Swedish population and were found to closely track each other (r = −0.83). Moreover, we found that there was a large difference in rated intensity between individuals with and without COVID-19 symptoms and the number of symptoms was related to odor intensity ratings. Finally, we found that individuals progressing from reporting no symptoms to subsequently reporting COVID-19 symptoms demonstrated a large drop in olfactory performance. These data suggest that measures of odor intensity, if obtained in a large and representative sample, can be used as an indicator of COVID-19 disease in the general population. Importantly, this simple measure could easily be implemented in countries without widespread access to COVID-19 testing or implemented as a fast early response before widespread testing can be facilitated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elucidation of odour awareness in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is important. We compared the odour awareness of young children with ASD with those of typical development (TD) children using the Children's Olfactory Behavior in Everyday Life (COBEL) questionnaire, which is a self-report measure that mainly assesses odour awareness. Forty-five young boys (aged 5–6 years), including 20 children with ASD and 25 TD children, participated in this study. The total COBEL score of the young children with ASD was lower than that of the TD children (p < 0.01). Moreover, the total COBEL score was significantly correlated with the total VABS II score (p < 0.05). Our results improve understanding of the odour awareness in children with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atypical sensory reactivities are pervasive among people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). With respect to olfaction, most previous studies have used psychophysical or questionnaire-based methodologies; thus, the neural basis of olfactory processing in ASD remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the stages of olfactory processing that are altered in ASD. Fourteen young adults with high-functioning ASD (mean age, 21 years; 3 females) were compared with 19 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls (mean age, 21 years; 4 females). Olfactory event-related potentials (OERPs) for 2-phenylethyl alcohol—a rose-like odor—were measured with 64 scalp electrodes while participants performed a simple odor detection task. Significant group differences in OERPs were found in 3 time windows 542 ms after the stimulus onset. The cortical source activities in these time windows, estimated using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography, were significantly higher in ASD than in TD in and around the posterior cingulate cortex, which is known to play a crucial role in modality-general cognitive processing. Supplemental Bayesian analysis provided substantial evidence for an alteration in the later stages of olfactory processing, whereas conclusive evidence was not provided for the earlier stages. These results suggest that olfactory processing in ASD is altered at least at the later, modality-general processing stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental caregiving is critical for the survival of our young and continuation of our species. In humans, visual and auditory signals from offspring have been shown to be potent facilitators of parenting. However, whether odors emitted by our young also influence human parenting remains unclear. To explore this, we conducted a series of questionnaire surveys targeting parents with children under 6 years old. First, we collected episodes on experiencing odors/sniffing various parts of a child’s body (n = 507). The prevalence of experiencing events described in those episodes was examined in a separate survey (n = 384). Based on those results, the Child Odor in Parenting scale (COPs) was developed, and subsequently used in the main survey (n = 888). We found COPs to have adequate content validity, concurrent validity, and reliability. Responses to the COPs demonstrated that parents, especially mothers with infants, are aware of odors from their offspring, and actively seek them in daily child-rearing. The factor structure and content of the COPs items indicated that child odors have both affective and instrumental roles. Affective experiences induce loving feeling and affectionate sniffing, while instrumental experiences pertain to specific hygienic needs. The head was the most frequent source of affective experiences, and the child’s bottom of instrumental. Each was experienced by more than 90% of the mothers with a child below 1 year of age. Affective experiences significantly declined as the child grew older, possibly associated with the decline of physical proximity between parents and child. This age-related decline was not prominent for instrumental experiences, except for the bottom, which significantly declined after 3 years of age. The present findings suggest that child odors play roles in human parenting, and that their nature and significance change during the course of a child’s development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It remains unclear whether language tasks in one's first (L1) or second (L2) language can cause stress responses and whether frontal, autonomic and behavioral responses to stressful tasks are correlated. In this study, we studied 22 Chinese subjects whose L2 was English and measured the cerebral blood oxygenation in their frontal lobe by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as participants engaged in a mental arithmetic task (MAT) and verbal fluency tasks (VFTs) in L1 (Chinese) and L2 (English). To examine the activated cortical areas, we estimated the channel location based on Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) standard brain space by using a probabilistic estimation method. We evaluated heart rate (HR) changes to analyze autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning. We found that the MAT and VFTs induced greater increases in HR than did the control (Ctrl) task. Furthermore, subjects developed greater increases in HR in the MAT and VFT than they did in the VFT. Compared with the Ctrl task, the MAT and both VFT and VFT produced robust and widespread bilateral activation of the frontal cortex. Interestingly, partial correlation analysis indicated that the activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) [Brodmann's area (BA) 47] was consistently correlated with the increases in HR across the three tasks (MAT, VFT, and VFT), after controlling for the performance data. The present results suggested that a VFT in L2 may be more stressful than in L1. The LIFG may affect the activation of the sympathetic system induced by stressful tasks, including MATs and VFTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the reading comprehension of health checkup reports in the context of health literacy (HL) in Japanese people. Methods: A web-based survey was conducted among 424 Japanese adults aged 35-59 years. Participants were asked to read specifically designed health checkup reports and then answer a series of questions to examine whether they accomplished the fundamental purposes of health checkup reports (recognition of the problems, recognition of the risk of illness, recognition of the need for preventive action, and motivation for preventive action). HL was simultaneously measured using the 14-item health literacy scale (HLS-14), the 11-item Lipkus scale (Lipkus-J), and the Newest Vital Sign (NVS-J). Results: About 70 % of the study subjects misread the normal/abnormal classification for at least one items. Those with lower HLS-14 scores were significantly less likely to recognize the problems, the risk of illness, and the need for preventive action for the examinee, and also less likely to express their willingness to take preventive action in compliance with the doctor's advice after having received the health checkup report. Compared with the HLS-14 scores, the Lipkus-J and NVS-J scores showed hardly any association with the reading comprehension of health checkup reports. Conclusion: All examinees do not always have an adequate level of HL. HL may be the major determinant of reading comprehension of health checkup reports. For more effective health checkups, health promotion service providers should become aware of the existence of examinees with inadequate HL and address the problem of misreading health checkup results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health literacy (HL) refers to the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services, and is thus needed to make appropriate health decisions. The Newest Vital Sign (NVS) is comprised of 6 questions about an ice cream nutrition label and assesses HL numeracy skills. We developed a Japanese version of the NVS (NVS-J) and evaluated the validity and reliability of the NVS-J in patients with chronic pain. The translation of the original NVS into Japanese was achieved as per the published guidelines. An observational study was subsequently performed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the NVS-J in 43 Japanese patients suffering from chronic pain. Factor analysis with promax rotation, using the Kaiser criterion (eigenvalues ≥1.0), and a scree plot revealed that the main component of the NVS-J consists of three determinative factors, and each factor consists of two NVS-J items. The criterion-related validity of the total NVS-J score was significantly correlated with the total score of Ishikawa et al.'s self-rated HL Questionnaire, the clinical global assessment of comprehensive HL level, cognitive function, and the Brinkman index. In addition, Cronbach's coefficient for the total score of the NVS-J was adequate (alpha = 0.72). This study demonstrated that the NVS-J has good validity and reliability. Further, the NVS-J consists of three determinative factors: “basic numeracy ability,” “complex numeracy ability,” and “serious-minded ability.” These three HL abilities comprise a 3-step hierarchical structure. Adequate HL should be promoted in chronic pain patients to enable coping, improve functioning, and increase activities of daily living (ADLs) and quality of life (QOL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have reported that experts outperform novices in specific domains. However, the superiority of experts in accuracy, taking both trueness and precision into consideration, has not yet been explored. Here, we examined differences between expert and novice performances by evaluating the accuracy of their estimations of physical concentrations of sodium chloride in solutions while employing a visual analog scale. In Experiment 1, 14 experts and 13 novices tasted 6 concentrations of the solutions until they had learned their intensities. Subsequently, they repeatedly rated the concentration of 3 other solutions in random order. Although we did not find a difference between the performances of the 2 groups in trueness (difference between rating and correct concentration), the precision (consistency of ratings for each participant) of experts was higher than that of novices. In Experiment 2, 13 experts who had participated in Experiment 1 and 10 experts and 12 novices who had not participated in Experiment 1 rated the salt concentration in sodium chloride/sucrose mixtures in the same way as in Experiment 1. Both trueness and precision of performance were higher in both expert groups than in the novice group. By introducing precision and trueness parameters, we succeeded in quantifying the estimations of experts and novices in rating the concentration of solutions, revealing experts’ superiority even for a task they had not been trained for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of sensory and extrinsic attributes on consumer intentions to purchase the Japanese traditional fermented soybean product natto was evaluated using conjoint analysis. Six attributes with 2 levels each were chosen and manipulated: price (high compared with low), the country of origin of the soybeans (domestic compared with imported), stickiness (strong compared with moderate), smell (rich compared with moderate), attached seasonings (attached compared with no attached seasonings), and the environmental friendliness of the packaging (high compared with low). A fractional factorial design was applied and 8 hypothetical product labels were produced. A sample of 479 Japanese housewives ranked these product labels based on their purchase intentions. Overall purchase intention was affected by country of origin, attached seasonings, and price; those attributes accounted for 81.0%, while the sensory attributes of the product accounted for 19.0% of purchase intents. In order to estimate market segments for the natto products based on consumer preference, a cluster analysis was performed. It identified 4 segments of consumers: 1 oriented to attached seasonings, another conscious of the price, and the other 2 oriented to origins. The behavioral and demographic characteristics of the respondents had a limited influence on segment membership. This research was conducted to understand how consumers valuate various sensory and nonsensory product attributes based on their assessment of the overall product in the case of Japanese fermented soy product ( natto). The data of this research would be of great importance both in understanding consumer behavior and in designing strategies for product development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A variety of neuroimaging software packages have been released from various laboratories worldwide, and many researchers use these packages in combination. Though most of these software packages are freely available, some people find them difficult to install and configure because they are mostly based on UNIX-like operating systems. We developed a live USB-bootable Linux package named "Lin4Neuro." This system includes popular neuroimaging analysis tools. The user interface is customized so that even Windows users can use it intuitively. Results: The boot time of this system was only around 40 seconds. We performed a benchmark test of inhomogeneity correction on 10 subjects of three-dimensional T1-weighted MRI scans. The processing speed of USB-booted Lin4Neuro was as fast as that of the package installed on the hard disk drive. We also installed Lin4Neuro on a virtualization software package that emulates the Linux environment on a Windows-based operation system. Although the processing speed was slower than that under other conditions, it remained comparable. Conclusions: With Lin4Neuro in one's hand, one can access neuroimaging software packages easily, and immediately focus on analyzing data. Lin4Neuro can be a good primer for beginners of neuroimaging analysis or students who are interested in neuroimaging analysis. It also provides a practical means of sharing analysis environments across sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether food identity information presented as name labels would influence perception of basic tastes. To test this hypothesis, we used 10 aqueous taste solutions consisting of 2–3 of the 5 basic tastes in different ratios and presented them with one of these food names: “lemon,” “coffee jelly,” “caramel candy,” and “consomme soup.” Forty-six participants tasted samples presented with either food-name labels or random number labels. We found that participants who tasted samples with food-name labels rated tastes with significantly higher liking and familiarity scores than those presented with random numbers, especially when the names and tastes were perceived as being congruent. Though an effect on perceived intensity was not as prominent, we observed cases in which intensity ratings significantly changed. Effects of identity information have been shown in olfaction and flavors. This study demonstrates the first experimental evidence that identity information given as names also influence the perception of unimodal basic tastes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We constructed physical maps of rice chromosomes 1, 2, and 6–9 with P1-derived artificial chromosome (PAC) and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones. These maps, with only 20 gaps, cover more than 97% of the predicted length of the six chromosomes. We submitted a total of 193 Mbp of non-overlapping sequences to public databases. We analyzed the DNA sequences of 1316 genetic markers and six centromere-specific repeats to facilitate characterization of chromosomal recombination frequency and of the genomic composition and structure of the centromeric regions. We found marked changes in the relative recombination rate along the length of each chromosome. Chromosomal recombination at the centromere core and surrounding regions on the six chromosomes was completely suppressed. These regions have a total physical length of about 23 Mbp, corresponding to 11.4% of the entire size of the six chromosomes. Chromosome 6 has the longest quiescent region, with about 5.6 Mbp, followed by chromosome 8, with quiescent region about half this size. Repetitive sequences accounted for at least 40% of the total genomic sequence on the partly sequenced centromeric region of chromosome 1. Rice CentO satellite DNA is arrayed in clusters and is closely associated with the presence of Centromeric Retrotransposon of Rice ( CRR)- and RIce RetroElement 7 ( RIRE7)-like retroelement sequences. We also detected relatively small coldspot regions outside the centromeric region; their repetitive content and gene density were similar to those of regions with normal recombination rates. Sequence analysis of these regions suggests that either the amount or the organization patterns of repetitive sequences may play a role in the inactivation of recombination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rice species Oryza sativa is considered to be a model plant because of its small genome size, extensive genetic map, relative ease of transformation and synteny with other cereal crops. Here we report the essentially complete sequence of chromosome 1, the longest chromosome in the rice genome. We summarize characteristics of the chromosome structure and the biological insight gained from the sequence. The analysis of 43.3 megabases (Mb) of non-overlapping sequence reveals 6,756 protein coding genes, of which 3,161 show homology to proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana, another model plant. About 30% (2,073) of the genes have been functionally categorized. Rice chromosome 1 is (G + C)-rich, especially in its coding regions, and is characterized by several gene families that are dispersed or arranged in tandem repeats. Comparison with a draft sequence indicates the importance of a high-quality finished sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies have investigated the association between smoking and ultrasonographically diagnosed gallbladder (GB) disease, and their results were uncertain. This study was conducted to examine the association between smoking and drinking and GB diseases. Methods: A total of 9947 subjects (age, 30–69 years; 4953 men and 4994 women) voluntarily received a paid medical check-up at our center in Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan. All of the subjects underwent abdominal ultrasonographic (US) examination, a demographic check, and a biochemical test, and answered a self-administered questionnaire asking about smoking habits and alcohol consumption. Of the 9947 subjects, 483 had gallstones, 819 had gallbladder polyps, and 169 were in a state of postcholecystectomy. We compared the findings in this group with the findings in 8417 people (4144 males and 4273 females) with normal gallbladder. Results: Multiple regression analysis among males showed that cigarette smoking was inversely related to GB polyps (odds ratio, [OR], 0.76; 95% confidence internal [CI], 0.59–0.98 and OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.56–0.98, respectively, for current and ex-smokers). Ex-smokers a showed positive association with the postcholecystectomy state (OR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.18–5.52). Light drinkers showed an inverse relation to GB stones (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.49–0.99), and heavy drinkers showed an inverse relation to GB polyps (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51–0.90). Current drinkers showed an inverse relation to the postcholecystectomy state (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.28–0.83). Conclusions: Cigarette smoking was inversely related to gallbladder polyps in males and was positively related to the postcholecystectomy state. Drinking was inversely related to gallstones, GB polyps, and the postcholecystectomy state in males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of gallbladder cancer risk associated with polyps and stones of the gallbladder by ultrasound examinations. Methods: We investigated abdominal ultrasonoraphic findings for gallstones and polyps of the gallbladder and the relationship of these findings to malignancy in 194,767 asymptomatic participants in health screening examinations. Results: Gallstones were detected in 7,985 participants (4.1%). at a prevalence of 5.3% in male and 4.5% in female participants. The prevalence was highest in the participants' seventh decade, followed by the sixth and the fifth decades, in both male and female participants. Polyps were found in 10,926 (5.6%), at a prevalence of 6.9% in the male and 4.5% in the female participants. In the male participants, prevalence was highest in the fourth decade, followed by the third and the fifth decades, whereas in the female participants it was highest in the fifth decade, followed by the fourth and third. High prevalence of polyps =10 mm in diameter was found in the fifth to seventh decades in both sexes. Nineteen participants (0.01%) were diagnosed as having gallbladder cancer, and many of them were in the sixth or seventh decade in both sexes. Patients with stones showed a higher prevalence of gallbladder cancer. This difference was shown to be statistically significant by age-adjusted analysis (p < 0.01). The age distribution of the participants with polyps ≥ 10 mm in diameter was correlated with that of patients diagnosed with gallbladder cancer. Furthermore, polyp incidence was significantly related to cancer by statistical analysis (p < 0.01). Conclusion: These results suggest an association between gallstone or polyp of the gallbladder and increased risk of malignancy, implying that an etiological association may also exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epitaxial insulator (CaF2) layers have been grown on epitaxial metal (CoSi2 and NiSi2) layers on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy. The surface morphology and bulk crystallinity are much better for growth on NiSi2, with scanning electron microscopy revealing only small triangular hillocks, and channeling minimum yields as low as 3% measured in the CaF2 using 2.5 MeV 4He+ ions. CaF2 layers grown at 650 °C on CoSi2 consist of a mixture of regions either aligned or rotated 180° with respect to the CoSi2 lattice, while CaF2 layers grown at 550 °C on NiSi2 are of a single orientation, regardless of the orientation of the NiSi2 with respect to the Si substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacity to pay attention is important for the cognitive ability, for example, evaluating an object for its qualities. Attention can selectively prioritize the neural processes that are relevant to a given task. Neuroimaging investigations on human attention are primarily focused on vision to the exclusion of other sensory systems, particularly olfaction. Neural underpinnings of human olfactory attention are still not clearly understood. Here, we combined electroencephalographic measurements of olfactory event related potential with electrical neuroimaging to investigate how the neural responses after inhaling the same odor differ between conditions with varying levels of attention, and, in which brain areas. We examined the neural responses when participants attended to a rose-like odor of phenylethyl alcohol for evaluating its pleasantness versus its passive inhalation. Our results gathered significant evidence for attentional modulation of the olfactory neural response. The most prominent effect was found for the late positive component, P3, of olfactory event related potential within a second from the odor onset. The source reconstruction of this data revealed activations in a distributed network of brain regions predominantly in inferior frontal cortex, insula, and  inferior temporal gyrus. These results suggest that the neuronal modulations from attention to olfactory pleasantness may be subserved by this network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]