Search

The moral status of human brain organoids (HBOs) has been debated in view of the future possibility that they may acquire phenomenal consciousness. This study empirically investigates the moral sensitivity in people’s intuitive judgments about actions toward conscious HBOs. The results showed that the presence/absence of pain experience in HBOs affected the judgment about the moral permissibility of actions such as creating and destroying the HBOs; however, the presence/absence of visual experience in HBOs also affected the judgment. These findings suggest that people’s intuitive judgments about the moral status of HBOs are sensitive to the valence-independent value of phenomenal consciousness. We discuss how these observations can have normative implications; particularly, we argue that they put pressure on the theoretical view that the moral status of conscious HBOs is grounded solely in the valence-dependent value of consciousness. We also discuss how our findings can be informative even when such a theoretical view is finally justified or when the future possibility of conscious HBOs is implausible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopted an empirical method to investigate lay people’s attitudes toward the bioethical issues of human-animal chimeric brains. The results of online surveys showed that (1) people did not entirely reject chimeric brain research, but showed slightly more negative responses than ordinary animal testing; and that (2) their ethical concerns arose in connection with the perception that chimerism in the brain would humanize the animal. This means that people’s psychology was consistent with the ethical argument that crossing the human-animal boundary would bring moral confusion to our society. Meanwhile, it was not in line with another argument that moral status depended on having high capacities, and that chimerism would cause a problem if it enhanced animals’ capacities. Furthermore, this study analyzed additional psychological factors related to people’s moral judgment and the relationship among those factors. Several psychological factors, such as the perception that chimeric brain research is unnatural, were identified as mediating the relationship between perception of animal humanization and ethical concerns about creating and using chimeric brains. Introducing an empirical approach to the ethics of human-animal chimeric brains brought two findings: (1) this study informed us of socially shared intuition regarding this novel technology; and (2) it unveiled the psychological processes behind people’s ethical concerns in more detail than they spontaneously mentioned. These findings will help to build normative arguments and future policies that are understandable and acceptable to society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal conditions for wound healing require a smooth transition from the early stage of inflammation to proliferation, and during this time alternatively activated (M2) macrophages play a central role. Recently, heat-killed lactic acid bacteria (LAB), such as Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) have been reported as possible modulators affecting the immune responses in wound healing. However, how signaling molecules regulate this process after the administration of heat-killed LAB remains unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of heat-killed L. plantarum KB131 (KB131) administration on wound healing and the contribution of CARD9, which is an essential signaling adaptor molecule for NF-kB activation upon triggering through C-type lectin receptors, in the effects of this bacterium. We analyzed wound closure, histological findings, and inflammatory responses. We found that administration of KB131 accelerated wound closure, re-epithelialization, granulation area, CD31-positive vessels, and α-SMA-positive myofibroblast accumulated area, as well as the local infiltration of leukocytes. In particular, M2 macrophages were increased, in parallel with CCL5 synthesis. The acceleration of wound healing responses by KB131 was canceled in CARD9-knockout mice. These results indicate that the topical administration of KB131 accelerates wound healing, accompanying increased M2 macrophages, which suggests that CARD9 may be involved in these responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a self-induced spatially-coherent dot array consisting of fourteen units of vertical-cavity surface-emitting modes that exhibit spatially uniform spectra. A 47.5 µm total beam width and 0.5° narrow emission are achieved using an oblong cavity enclosed with a flat top mirror, cylindrically curved bottom mirror, and side facet. Notably, terminating the side of the cavity with a perpendicular facet enhances the horizontal propagation, which couples with the vertical resonance in each dot, similar to the case of master lasers in injection-locked lasers that delocalize the modes. Conventional semiconductor lasers, edge-emitting lasers, and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers have a Fabry–Pérot cavity; furthermore, emission and resonance are in identical directions, limiting the beam width to micrometers. Though the present structure has the same scheme of propagation, the right-angled facet synchronizes the modes and drastically expands the beam width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reptilian skull morphology is highly diverse and broadly categorized into three architectural patterns: anapsid, synapsid, and diapsid. The anapsid condition where the temporal region is completely roofed by bones is observed in both basal reptiles and turtles. According to recent phylogenetic studies, turtles are derived from diapsid reptiles, implying that the temporal fenestrae were secondarily closed in turtles. Although the repeated evolution of dermatocranial bone reductions in the skull's temporal region of the anapsid skull and the biomechanical factors driving the evolution of the anapsid skull in turtles have been actively discussed, its developmental basis for the anapsid skull remains poorly understood. To investigate the developmental mechanisms underlying the morphological evolution of turtle skulls, here we describe the cranial osteogenesis of three cryptodiran turtle species with distinct skull morphologies: Chelonia mydas (Cheloniidae), Mauremys reevesii (Geoemydidae), and Pelodiscus sinensis (Trionychidae). Our interspecific comparison of embryonic cranial osteogenesis suggests that the growth pattern of skull bone elements is presumed to be highly conserved during embryogenesis across cryptodiran turtles. We found that the growth pattern of the five dermatocranial elements that construct the temporal region of the skull (the parietal, postorbital, jugal, quadratojugal, and squamosal) is highly conserved among turtle species, and that the morphological diversity of turtle skulls arises from slight differences in growth patterns. Our study also suggests that interspecific morphological differences in the cheloniid adult skulls may become apparent in the post-hatching growth period rather than during embryogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza virus infection is a major threat to global health. Although vaccines and anti-influenza virus drugs are available, annual influenza virus epidemics result in severe illness, and an influenza pandemic occurs every 20-30 years. To identify candidate anti-influenza virus compounds, we screened approximately 5,000 compounds in an in-house library. We identified MZ7465, a salcomine derivative, as a potent inhibitor of influenza virus propagation. We analyzed the antiviral propagation mechanism of the hit compound by determining the amounts of viral proteins and RNA in infected cells treated with or without the hit compound. Treatment of infected cells with MZ7465 decreased both viral protein and RNA synthesis. In addition, an in vitro assay showed that viral RNA synthesis was directly inhibited by MZ7465. These results suggest that salcomine and its derivatives are potential candidates for the treatment of influenza virus infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the type of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) and the retinoreceptive layer of the tectum is investigated by the immunostaining of RGCs with nicotinic acetylcholine receptor β2 (nAChR β2) antibody and intracellular staining by DiI and also by anterograde degeneration and biotinylated dextran amine labeling of retinotectal fibers in chicks. The results strongly suggest that many of the RGCs that express immunoreactivity to nAChR β2 send axons to tectal layer 7 and are mainly classified into the simple-type of Groups II and III, which contain the cells providing middle-sized to large dendritic fields with simple dendritic arborization. These nAChR β2-immunoreactive RGCs receive visual information via the multiple sublayers of the inner plexiform layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulin-containing layer-by-layer (LbL) thin films were prepared by an alternate deposition of insulin and anionic polysaccharides (heparin, κ-carrageenan, and fucoidan) through an electrostatic force of attraction between positively charged insulin and anionic polysaccharides at pH 3.0. The loading of insulin in the LbL films increased with the increasing number of layers (or the film thickness), depending on the polysaccharide type. LbL films composed of κ-carrageenan contained higher amount of insulin than in heparin- and fucoidan-based films. The LbL films were fairly stable in acidic media, while insulin was released from the films in weakly acidic and neutral solutions as a result of loss of net positive charge in insulin. The released insulin retained its original structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the molecular shapes and structural characteristics of a 33-armed, star polystyrene (PS-33A) and two 3-generation, dendrimer-like, star-branched poly(methyl methacrylate)s with different architectures (PMMA-G3a and PMMA-3Gb) and 32 end-branches under good solvent and theta (Θ) solvent conditions by using synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The SAXS analyses were used to determine the structural details of the star PS and dendrimer-like, star-branched PMMA polymers. PS-33A had a fuzzy-spherical shape, whereas PMMA-G3a and PMMA-G3b had fuzzy-ellipsoidal shapes of similar size, despite their different chemical architectures. The star PS polymer's arms were more extended than those of linear polystyrene. Furthermore, the branches of the dendrimer-like, star-branched polymers were more extended than those of the star PS polymer, despite having almost the same number of branches as PS-33A. The differences between the internal chain structures of these materials was attributed to their different chemical architectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic hyperbranched poly(methyl methacrylate)s (PMMA)s, whose branched architectures resemble the 'dendron' part(s) of dendrimer, were synthesized by an iterative methodology consisting of two reactions in each iteration process: (a) a coupling reaction of α-functionalized, living, anionic PMMA having two tert-butyldimethylsilyloxymethylphenyl (SMP) groups with benzyl bromide (BnBr)-chain-end-functionalized PMMA, and (b) a transformation reaction of the introduced SMP groups into BnBr functionalities. These two reactions, (a) and (b), were repeated three times to afford a series of dendron-like, hyperbranched (PMMA)s up to third generation. Three dendron-like, hyperbranched (PMMA)s different in branched architecture were also synthesized by the same iterative methodology using a low molecular weight, functionalized 1,1-diphenylalkyl anion prepared from sec-BuLi and 1,1-bis(3- tert-butyldime-thylsilyloxymethylphenyl)ethylene in the reaction step (b) in each iterative process. Furthermore, structurally similar, dendron-like, hyperbranched block copolymers could be successfully synthesized by the iterative methodology using α-functionalized, living, anionic poly(2-(perfluorobutyl) ethyl methacrylate) (PRfMA) in addition to α-functionalized, living PMMA. Accordingly, the resulting block copolymers were comprised of both PMMA and PRfMA segments with different sequential orders. After the block copolymers were cast into films and annealed, their surface structures were characterized by angle-dependent XPS and contact angle measurements. All three samples showed significant segregation and enrichment of PRfMA segments at the surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]