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Erianthus arundinaceus (ER) is greatly appreciated among domestic energy crops in Japan for the production of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic polysaccharides. In this study, we developed an efficient Ca(OH)2-based pretreatment of both stems and leaves of ER at ambient temperature with the addition of a washing step for enzymatic saccharification. The recoveries of glucans and xylans in the pretreated ER after four countercurrent washing cycles were 91 and 76 %, respectively, the former being considerably higher than that of rice straw (RS) (72 %). Their saccharification ratios in the washed sample under the pressure of 1 atm CO2 were 80 and 92.5 %, respectively. The application of this simple sugar production process from ER would further support the domestic bioprocess development. ER is also foreseen to provide the additional feedstock favorable for harvesting from winter to spring in Japan, preventing a risk for feedstock shortage generated by single harvesting such as RS.

Gel pads are commonly used in skin ultrasonography; however, the effects of their thickness are unknown. This study investigated the effects of pad thickness on measurements of skin thickness in 10 beagle dogs. Sonograms to measure neck skin thickness were captured without pads and using pads with thicknesses of 3, 5, 10, and 20 mm. Without pads, acoustic shading was observed due to air bubbles in the coupling gel. With 20-mm pads, echogenic artifacts were observed on the skin surface. Entry echo with 20-mm pads was significantly higher than with 3-mm pads. This suggests that visibility of the skin structure could be affected when a gel pad is not used or when a thick gel pad is selected.

We determined a comprehensive immunohistochemistry of putative isoforms of enzymes for prostaglandin (PG) F2α and PGE2 biosynthesis and these PGs levels in placenta and fetal membrane of normal pregnant rats in vivo. Placenta and fetal membrane showed positive immunoreactions for phospholipase A2 group 4A, but not group 2A, and cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 rather than COX-2. They showed positive immunoreactions for at least one isoform of each of PGF synthase and PGE synthase with tissue-dependent variations. PGF2α and PGE2 levels in both tissues were highest on day 12 and declined and remained low thereafter. Obtained data would be the basic information on the primary PGs synthesis in rat placenta and fetal membrane in normal pregnancy.

Lions (Panthera leo) breed well under captivity, so contraception has been commonly conducted for population management, leading to a demand for a less invasive and reversible contraceptive approach in lions. In this study, we examined the efficacy of a commercial gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccine as a method of suppressing reproductive activity in a sexually matured female lion. Under behavioral restraint, the vaccine was injected twice (days 0 and 109). After the initial vaccination, ovarian activity is still observed. After the second vaccination, contraceptive effect was confirmed for 246 days until restart of estrous cycles. We confirmed only a slight swelling around the injection site after the second vaccination. This study may suggest an alternative option for a contraceptive method in lions.

The anodic oxidation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIm-BF4) efficiently generates BF3 from BF4-. This Lewis acid, strongly bound to the ionic liquids, can be efficiently used in classical BF3-catalyzed reactions. We demonstrated the BF3/BMIm-BF4 reactivity in four reactions, namely, a domino Friedel-Crafts/lactonization of phenols, the Povarov reaction, the Friedel-Crafts benzylation of anisole, and the multicomponent synthesis of tetrahydro-11H-benzo[a]xanthen-11-ones. In comparison with literature data using BF3-Et2O in organic solvents, in all the presented cases, analogous or improved results were obtained. Moreover, the noteworthy advantages of the developed method are the in situ generation of BF3 (no storing necessity) in the required amount, using only the electron as redox reagent, and the recycling of BMIm-BF4 for multiple subsequent runs.

We report the pathologic features, local inflammatory response immunophenotype, and molecular identification results of cerebral nematodiasis in a young sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) from Texas. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of cerebral nematodiasis by Parelaphostrongylus tenuis in a sitatunga, a bovid species introduced into the USA, and the first characterization of the local inflammatory response immunoprofile in this condition. A molecular identification method based on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded-polymerase chain reaction was described. These results contribute to knowledge on geographical distribution and host spectrum of P. tenuis, and highlight the relevance of this nematodiasis in naïve translocated or introduced bovid species into endemic areas.

Conversion of N-Boc-protected quaternary proline derivatives under thermal Curtius rearrangement conditions was found to afford a series of ring-opened ketone and unsaturated pyrrolidine products instead of the expected carbamate species. The nature of the substituent on the quaternary carbon thereby governs the product outcome due to the stability of a postulated N-acyliminium species. A continuous flow process with in-line scavenging was furthermore developed to streamline this transformation and safely create products on a gram scale.

Keratometry was performed in 73 domestic cats of varied signalment in Japan using an automated handheld keratometer. The mean corneal curvature radius was significantly lower for cats younger than 1 year than for those older than 2 years (8.04 mm vs. 8.80-8.99 mm, P

Dietary fiber has high functional value in relation to gut flora. We searched for a high-lysine mutant of the most popular rice cultivar in Japan, 'Koshihikari', as a route to a higher dietary fiber content like a success case in new barley cultivar, 'Beau-fiber'. We found several promising high-lysine mutants with high dietary fiber content. One of these, 'WFE5', has three times the dietary fiber content in white rice. Two rounds of backcrossing to Koshihikari produced a near-isogenic line with a high fiber content. The line's agronomic traits were close to those of Koshihikari except for yield and eating quality. As these two traits are critical, we discuss how to improve them.

Pollination is an essential process for plants to carry on their generation. Pollination is carried out in various ways depending on the type of plant species. Among them, pollination by insect pollinator accounts for the most common. However, these pollinators have be decreasing in population density due to environmental factors. Therefore, use of artificial pollination is increasing. However, there is a lack of information on microorganisms present in the artificial pollens. We showed the composition of bacteria structure present in the artificial pollens of apple, kiwifruit, peach and pear, and contamination of high-risk pathogens was investigated. Acidovorax spp., Pantoea spp., Erwinia spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Xanthomonas spp., which are classified as potential high-risk pathogens, have been identified in imported pollens. This study presented the pollen-associated bacterial community structure, and the results are expected to be foundation for strengthening biosecurity in orchard industry.

Oocysts of Isospora sp. were detected in the feces of a veiled chameleon (family Chamaeleonidae; Chamaeleo calyptratus) kept at a zoo in Ishikawa, Japan. Phylogenetic analysis placed the sequence in the cluster of Isospora spp. isolated from reptiles. Based on a comparison of morphological data of ten previously reported Isospora species from the Chamaeleonidae family, this isolate was morphologically similar to I. jaracimrmani, which has been considered to be a virulent species. This case study suggests the possibility that species of Isospora might not always cause disease because the animal that shed these oocysts showed no symptoms for more than two months.

Felis catus papillomavirus (FcaPV), especially type 2 (FcaPV2) is considered as one of the causative agents in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in cats. However, our previous study detected FcaPV3 and FcaPV4, but not FcaPV2 in feline SCCs collected in Japan, suggesting that the prevalence of FcaPV2 in SCC may vary depending on geographic locations. To evaluate this hypothesis, two conventional PCR reactions targeting E1 and E7 genes were performed to detect FcaPV2 in feline SCC samples collected in Taiwan and Japan. While 46.9% (23/49) of feline SCC cases from Taiwan were PCR positive for FcaPV2, only 8.6% (3/35) cases from Japan were positive. Our result suggests that the prevalence of FcaPV2 in feline SCCs may depend on the region.

A 24-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding presented with difficulty breathing for a few days and intermittent nose bleeding before dying. At necropsy, the bronchoesophageal artery and the bronchial artery that flowed into the left anterior lobe were tortuous and dilated, and it was found that dilated tortuous branches of the bronchial artery ran over the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the left anterior lobe. Histopathologically, an anastomosis between a muscular artery and an elastic artery were demonstrated, which were identified as bronchial and pulmonary arteries, respectively. Based on the gross and histopathological findings, a bronchopulmonary artery fistula was diagnosed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of a pulmonary vascular anastomosis in a horse.

Inflammasomes play a pivotal role in gastrointestinal homeostasis and inflammation. However, it remains elusive whether the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor (NLR) family inflammasomes, such as NLR family pyrin domain-containing (NLRP) 3, NLRP6, and NLRP12, are involved in the pathogenesis of canine chronic enteropathy (CE), which includes antibiotic-responsive enteropathy (ARE), food-responsive enteropathy (FRE), immunosuppressant-responsive enteropathy (IRE), and non-responsive enteropathy (NRE). Thus, we measured mRNA expression of NLRP3, NLRP6, and NLRP12 in the intestinal mucosa of 35 dogs with CE (ARE, four dogs; FRE, 11 dogs; IRE and NRE, 20 dogs) and seven healthy dogs. As per real-time PCR analysis, significant increases in mRNA expression of NLRP3 and NLRP12 were noted in the colonic but not in the duodenal mucosa of dogs with FRE compared to healthy dogs. These findings suggested that the NLRP3 and NLRP12 inflammasomes might contribute to the development of colitis in dogs with FRE.

We determined the nucleotide sequence of the growth hormone (Gh) gene in Mus minutoides, one of the smallest mammals, where was predicted to be distinct in the functional regions between M. minutoides and Mus musculus. To investigate the evolutionary characteristics of Gh in M. minutoides, we constructed a phylogenetic tree based on the putative amino acid sequences of Gh, suggesting that the Gh of M. minutoides diverged earlier than M. musculus. Furthermore, the Gh gene expressed higher in M. minutoides than in M. musculus. Our results suggest that the specific feature of the Gh in M. minutoides is in rather the regulatory mechanism than the sequence.

LEAFY (LFY), which encodes a plant-specific transcription factor, plays an important role in the transition from vegetative to reproductive development. Ectopic expression of LFY has been reported to induce dwarfism and early flowering in some model plants. In order to examine the possibility of using LFY for molecular breeding of ornamental plants, we produced and characterized transgenic plants ectopically expressing LFY from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtLFY) in the liliaceous ornamental plant Tricyrtis sp. Nine independent transgenic plants have been obtained, and all of them exhibited dwarf phenotypes compared with the vector control. These transgenic plants could be classified into three types according to the degree of dwarfism: one showed an extreamly dwarf phenotype with smaller leaves (Type I); two showed moderately dwarf phenotypes (Type II); and six showed slightly dwarf phenotypes (Type III). All of Type I, Type II and Type III transgenic plants produced flower buds 1–3 weeks earlier than the vector control. Vector control and Type III transgenic plants produced 1–4 apical flower buds, whereas Type I and Type II transgenic plants produced only a single apical flower bud. Type I and Type II transgenic plants often produced non-fully-opened flowers. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the AtLFY expression level generally correlated with the degree of dwarfism. These results indicate that morphological alterations observed in the transgenic plants was induced by ectopic expression of AtLFY. Lower levels of ectopic expression of LFY may be valuable for producing dwarf and early flowering ornamental plants.

Brassinosteroid (BR) is a phytohormone that acts as important regulator of plant growth. To identify novel transcription factors that may be involved in unknown mechanisms of BR signaling, we screened the chimeric repressor expressing plants (CRES-T), in which transcription factors were converted into chimeric repressors by the fusion of SRDX plant-specific repression domain, to identify those that affect the expression of BR inducible genes. Here, we identified a homeobox-leucine zipper type transcription factor, BRASSINOSTEROID-RELATED-HOMEOBOX 3 (BHB3), of which a chimeric repressor expressing plants (BHB3-sx) significantly downregulated the expression of BAS1 and SAUR-AC1 that are BR inducible genes. Interestingly, ectopic expression of BHB3 (BHB3-ox) also repressed the BR inducible genes and shorten hypocotyl that would be similar to a BR-deficient phenotype. Interestingly, both BHB3-sx and BHB3-ox showed pale green phenotype, in which the expression of genes related photosynthesis and chlorophyll contents were significantly decreased. We found that BHB3 contains three motifs similar to the conserved EAR-repression domain, suggesting that BHB3 may act as a transcriptional repressor. These results indicate that BHB3 might play an important role not only to the BR signaling but also the regulation of greenings.

Rencontrer une note, selon un propos célèbre prêté au dramaturge Noel Coward, « is like going downstairs to answer the doorbel while making love ». (p. 11) Andréas Pfersmann est maître de conférence à l’Université de la Polynésie française. Il étudie depuis près de vingt ans l’annotation. Tout aussi marginal que marginalisé dans les études françaises, le sujet n’est pas neuf pour autant. Les scientifiques allemands planchent depuis la fin du XIXe siècle sur le sujet et le monde anglo-saxon lu...

International audience; At last year's 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, 141 countries committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 (1). It was part of one of several side deals designed to keep the objectives of the Paris agreement within reach. The UK government boasted that these nations had made a landmark pledge to end deforestation (2). Yet, one crucial detail was left out: whether that deforestation will be gross or net. The distinction matters, because differing interpretations of how countries can "end deforestation" significantly impact future carbon dioxide emissions. Put simply, ending gross deforestation would be a major step forward for the climate. But considering only net deforestation could be anecdotal and even be detrimental to biodiversity. Overall, human activities related to land use emit 4 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide (CO 2) per year to the atmosphere (3). These are net emissions, comprising both carbon losses and carbon gains. On the loss side, the destruction of tree biomass during deforestation, for large-scale agriculture, cattle ranching, or shifting cultivation (cycles of cutting forest for agriculture, then abandoning to recover soil fertility, then returning), and the legacy emissions from harvested wood products, form the bulk of gross emissions, totaling 14 Gt CO 2 per year (3). On the gain side, secondary forest regrowth after reforestation, agricultural abandonment, or during shifting cultivation form the bulk of the gross carbon Differing interpretations as to how countries can "end deforestation" will have significant impacts on future carbon dioxide emissions. Only ending gross deforestation would be a major step forward for the climate. Image credit: Shutterstock/guentermanaus.

Purpose To describe the innovative teaching practices, tools, and resources for remote learning developed by a school of pharmacy with a decentralized experiential program to empower and support preceptors in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Summary As the pandemic has continued, there have been significant shifts in pharmacy workflow, staffing, and patient care delivery. Pharmacy students are slowly being reintegrated into these learning environments. Although preceptors are willing and eager to teach, many lack the resources, tools, and support to create remote learning experiences at their facilities. The University of the Pacific Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy has a decentralized experiential education model in which faculty regional coordinators with clinical practices and diverse expertise are disseminated throughout California. This model allowed us to collaborate and understand preceptor needs from a local level. We created a preceptor COVID-19 guidance document, introduced innovative virtual playbooks to pivot up to 100% remote rotations, and promoted the layered learning model to integrate pharmacy residents into the remote teaching space. Communication and flexibility are key to ensure student and preceptor safety while maintaining high-quality advanced pharmacy practice experiences and preserving patient-student relationships in telehealth. Conclusion Overall, we successfully created innovative solutions and leveraged our decentralized experiential model to meet the teaching and learning demands during an unanticipated crisis. We continue to adapt and plan to assess the effectiveness of the tools by administering surveys of preceptors and pharmacy students.

The aim of this study is to examine 1) muscle fiber type composition, 2) myofiber diameter, and 3) aquaporin (AQP) 7 and AQP 9 mRNA expressions by quantitative PCR in muscles of obese db/db mice. The myofiber type composition of skeletal muscle was not statistically significantly different between db/db mice and control mice; while the average myofiber diameter ratio showed a decrease in db/db mice. The expression of AQP7 but not AQP9 mRNA in the skeletal and cardiac muscles was significantly upregulated in db/db mice. Thus this study revealed quantitatively that type 2 myofiber atrophy was shown in the skeletal muscles of db/db mice. AQP7 mRNA expression was upregulated in the skeletal and cardiac muscles of db/db mice.

The placenta of the Korean water deer was anatomically examined to accumulate basic information regarding its reproductive system. The convex placentomes with five to nine well-developed pedicles were observed in the whole uterine horns, and therefore, the placenta was classified as oligocotyledonary. The evidence indicating the migration of binucleate cells (BNCs) from trophectoderm to the uterine epithelium led to the histological classification of the placenta as synepitheliochorial. The number of fetuses was markedly higher than that in other ruminant species. However, the number of placentomes was found to be similar to the other Cervidae species. Therefore, these results suggest that the Korean water deer may possess special mechanisms or structures at the fetus attachment site to maintain this unusally high number of fetuses.