Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

A 6-year-old, spayed female Boston Terrier presented with elevated ALT. The dog underwent abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography, which resulted in a suspected gallbladder neuroendocrine tumor. Complete tumor resection was achieved by cholecystectomy with hepatic parenchymal resection despite tumor invasion into the gallbladder. The diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor was confirmed by histopathology. This case suggests the surgical technique described could be an effective treatment option for canine gallbladder neuroendocrine tumors.

Prey–predator interaction is a phenomenon important to our understanding of community dynamics. Mantises and web-weaving spiders are predators that belong to the same guild, and they can be each other’s predator and prey. However, their relationship is generally asymmetrical, with spiders often being the prey of the mantises. Here, we report a rare opposite case in which an adult female mantis, Hierodula chinensis Werner, 1929, was preyed upon by the orb-web weaving spider Gibbaranea abscissa (Karsch, 1879), without using a web, in a late autumn field in Japan. We suggest that differences in cold tolerance allowed the small spider to hunt a mantis prey that was approximately eight times its size.

Aquaglyceroporins such as aquaporin−3 (AQP3) and its bacterial homologue GlpF facilitate water and glycerol permeation across lipid bilayers. X-ray crystal structures of GlpF showed open pore conformations, and AQP3 has also been predicted to adopt this conformation. Here we present cryo-electron microscopy structures of rat AQP3 and GlpF in different narrowed pore conformations. In n-dodecyl-β-D-maltopyranoside detergent micelles, aromatic/arginine constriction filter residues of AQP3 containing Tyr212 form a 2.8-Å diameter pore, whereas in 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) nanodiscs, Tyr212 inserts into the pore. Molecular dynamics simulation shows the Tyr212-in conformation is stable and largely suppresses water permeability. AQP3 reconstituted in POPC liposomes exhibits water and glycerol permeability, suggesting that the Tyr212-in conformation may be altered during permeation. AQP3 Y212F and Y212T mutant structures suggest that the aromatic residue drives the pore-inserted conformation. The aromatic residue is conserved in AQP7 and GlpF, but neither structure exhibits the AQP3-like conformation in POPC nanodiscs. Unexpectedly, the GlpF pore is covered by an intracellular loop, but the loop is flexible and not primarily related to the GlpF permeability. Our findings illuminate the unique AQP3 conformation and structural diversity of aquaglyceroporins.

The Cause of Death in Non-Rodents (CODN) Working Group is an initiative under the Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee (SRPC) of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP), focused on understanding existing practices and expectations among pharmaceutical companies, academic entities, and contract research organizations (CROs) when it comes to identifying and reporting the “Cause of Death” (COD) or moribundity for early or unplanned necropsies in non-rodent animal species (mainly non-human primates [NHP] and dogs) within both GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) and non-GLP toxicity studies. A survey was sent out to STP members to collect data on industry practices for determining COD in animals that underwent unscheduled euthanasia or were found deceased. Other non-rodent animals (such as pigs and rabbits) were also included to evaluate different approaches taken with various species. The insights obtained led to the development of “Points to Consider” for establishing and documenting the COD in large animal toxicity studies. Four key considerations include utilizing information from both control and treated animals in the study, consideration of COD for cohabiting or co-shipped non-study animals, including additional evaluations to help rule-in or rule-out specific causes, and recording the COD consistently in pathology databases or reports as a standard practice.

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is increasingly gaining popularity in a wide range of autonomous vehicle and driving assistant applications owing to its style of optimality and convenience in handling multiple constraints. However, a primary drawback in online applications lies in the high computational burden caused by the complex non-linearity in the vehicle system and driving stability constraints. The differential flatness property of the vehicle motion system offers a solution by treating the error signals as flat outputs for endogenous feedback linearization. Nevertheless, this approach introduces a new challenge of dealing with time-varying implicit constraints. To address this issue, our work combines flatness-based MPC design with real-time iterative handling of lateral stability constraints, leading to a pure linear Quadratic Programming (QP) problem that can be efficiently solved online. Through numerical simulations conducted under two challenging scenarios, we demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms conventional linear-time-varying MPC in terms of linearization error and dynamic performance. Finally, field tests conducted with a four-wheel independent driving and four-wheel independent steering chassis platform validate the feasibility and substantial potential of our presented method in autonomous driving applications.

This study evaluated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential of utilizing empty fruit bunch (EFB) pellets from Indonesia as a power generation fuel in Japan. EFB is commonly processed through mulching or combustion; thus, these methods were used as the reference scenarios to compare emissions with EFB pellet utilization. Additionally, we assessed whether EFB pellets could outperform coal-fired and liquid natural gas (LNG) combined cycle power generation in terms of GHG emissions reduction. The life-cycle GHG emissions for EFB pellet utilization in Japan were calculated at 285 kg-CO2eq per metric ton of EFB (at 60 % moisture content, wet basis), surpassing the reference scenario by 278−279 kg-CO2eq. Compared to coal-fired power generation, EFB pellet utilization achieved a 33 % GHG emissions reduction, but emissions exceeded those of LNG combined cycle generation. The primary emissions source was biogas derived CH4 released during wastewater treatment in pellet production. A sensitivity analysis, considering biogas treatment rates and power generation efficiency, demonstrated that EFB pellet use could reduce GHG emissions relative to LNG combined cycle generation under specific conditions. These include operation in large-scale power plants with a generation efficiency of at least 40 % and a biogas reduction rate of 49 %. The findings suggest that EFB pellet utilization in Japan could contribute to GHG emissions reduction if a stable supply system is established to support large-scale power plants. Successful implementation requires developing incentives for biogas treatment at pellet mills and accurately assessing EFB availability to prevent competition with existing uses.

Forest management is crucially important for the sustainability of water sources in watersheds because forests are important water-related ecosystem components. Thinning is one technique that affects runoff change. For this study, we examined thinning effects on long-term runoff, based on monthly runoff and rainfall data for a coniferous forest plantation in the Hitachi Ohta watershed, Japan. Paired catchment experiments were used to evaluate water yield. Monitoring was done pre- and post-thinning during 2006–2021. In 2009, we removed 50% of the trees in catchment HV by thinning management, whereas catchment HB was left as a control catchment. The mean monthly runoff and runoff coefficient of catchment HV were higher than those of catchment HB throughout the post-thinning periods. Furthermore, 105.71 mm/year and 142.97 mm/year increases were found, respectively, in yearly water yields for the first (2010–2012) and latter (2018–2021) examination periods. About 12 years after thinning, the thinning effects are expected to continue. Results show that long-term study is necessary to assess forest management in Japan.

Roles of Al-vacancy ( VAl) complexes on the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of Si-doped AlN grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on a physical-vapor-transported (0001) AlN substrate are described, making a connection with the results of positron annihilation measurements. A combination of HVPE and AlN substrate enabled decreasing deleterious carbon concentration and dislocation density, respectively, thus accentuating the influences of VAl-complexes on the luminescence processes. A low-temperature CL spectrum of unintentionally doped AlN exhibited predominant excitonic emissions at around 6 eV and a marginal deep-state emission band at around 3.7 eV that originates from residual carbon (<10¹⁶ cm⁻³) on nitrogen sites ( CN). However, the sample was revealed to contain a considerable amount ( ∼1017 cm−3) of vacancy clusters, most likely comprising a VAl and nitrogen-vacancies ( VN), namely, VAlVN1−2, which act as nonradiative recombination centers that decrease overall CL intensity at elevated temperatures. With increasing Si-doping concentration ([Si]), major vacancy species progressively changed from VAlVN1−2 to VAlON1−2, where ON is oxygen on N sites, which exhibit other deep-state emission bands ranging from 3.2 to 3.5 eV. Further increase in [Si] gave rise to the formation of donor-compensating defects comprising VAl and Si on the second-nearest-neighbor Al sites ( SiAl), abbreviated by VAl−SiAln, which exhibit emission shoulders at around 2.9–3.0 eV. When [Si] exceeded 5 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, an emission band at around 4.5 eV emerged, which had been ascribed to originate from the nearest-neighbor SiAlCN complexes. Because VAl-complexes, including those containing impurities, are thermally stable, incorporation of vacancies should be blocked at the growth stage.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) in the brain can be divided into aggregated ECM, such as perineuronal nets (PNNs) around neurons, and diffuse ECM, which is present throughout the brain parenchyma. Both aggregated and diffuse ECM restrict synaptic plasticity and stabilize neural circuits in the adult brain. Hyaluronan (HA) acts as a scaffold for the brain ECM, and multiple proteoglycans, such as aggrecan, bind to HA to form a macromolecular complex. Recent evidence suggests that microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, play a crucial role in ECM homeostasis. However, it remains unclear how microglia influence the molecular composition of the ECM. Using a tissue-clearing technique and histochemical analysis, we found that microglial depletion increased the staining intensity of aggrecan and HA in both PNNs and diffuse ECM. Biochemical analyses further confirmed the accumulation of the aggrecan core protein and HA following microglial depletion. Our findings highlight the essential role of microglia in regulating the ECM composition and provide new insights into the mechanisms by which microglia influence neuronal function.

Soy isoflavones are involved deeply in our diet as beneficial to the health. It is known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and also to be effective in alleviating various lifestyle diseases, as well as the maintenance of endocrine function especially with age-related diseases such as osteoporosis. Here we investigated the impact of age-dependent changes with the intestinal microbiota in physiologically aged C57BL/6 N by free drinking water with soluble soybean-derived isoflavone glycosides (SIFs) for 4 weeks. Consequently, Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) species represented age-dependent increase with SIF treatment, subsequently, generally age-dependent decreased goblet cells are retained in the large intestine. These results invoke that SIF plays a beneficial role on intestinal barrier function to maintain the large intestine homeostasis. Interestingly, we also revealed that SIF had an alleviating effect on age-dependent bone loss. Taken together, SIF has fruitful effect on the intestinal environment and maintenance of homeostasis in physiological aging.

lactoglobulin (BLG) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) were conjugated by using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC). The BLG-CMC conjugates with different CMC content and molecular weights were prepared. Confirmation of conjugation was carried out by SDS-PAGE. CD spectra revealed that the secondary structure of BLG had maintained in the conjugates. Fluorescence studies indicated that the conformation around Trp had not changed in the conjugates. Retinol-binding activity indicated that the retinol-binding site of BLG changed by the conjugation. Equilibrium constants (KAS) of anti-BLG monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to BLG after conjugating with CMC by competitive ELISA indicated that the structure around ¹⁵Val-²⁹Ile and ⁸Lys-¹⁹Trp maintained their native structure, and the structure around ¹²⁵Thr-¹³⁵Lys changed by conjugation. By conjugation with CMC, emulsifying property of BLG in the acidic pH region and in the presence of NaCl were much improved. Because acidic pH and salt are frequently used in food, the BLG-CMC conjugates are considered to be useful for food applications. Immunogenicity of BLG in BALB/c mice was reduced by this conjugation. In particular, there was a marked improvement in both emulsifying property and reduced immunogenicity in the BLG-high molecular weight (HMW) CMC conjugate. Therefore, conjugation with CMC is an effective way to improve BLG’s function, and CMC with a high molecular weight is preferable.

Metal additive manufacturing enables producing complex geometric structures with high accuracy and breaks the design constraints of traditional manufacturing methods. Laser powder bed fusion, a typical additive manufacturing process, presents a challenge in experimentally understanding the nano-scaled microstructure-process relationship regarding the wide range of process parameters. In this study, we aim to reveal the novel nanoscale structural features by advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy to clarify the formation mechanisms in 316L stainless steel by laser powder bed fusion. Here we show that the slender columnar grains were confined to the centreline of the melt pool along the build direction, and the columnar cell structure at the side branching of the melt pool grew along orthogonal directions to follow drastic changes in thermal gradient across adjacent melt pools. Novel nano-scaled modulated structures have been observed in the dislocation cells parallel to the laser scan direction, which were mainly caused by the elastic strain involving the thermal gradient inside the melt pool and across adjacent melt pools as well as the effective strain field in the dislocation cell interiors. An in-depth understanding of microstructure developments is worthy of fabricating high-performance materials by controlling the additive manufacturing process.

Bacterial communities associated with living organisms play critical roles in maintaining health and ecological balance. While dominant bacteria have been widely studied, understanding the role of low-abundance bacteria has become increasingly important due to their unique roles, such as regulating bacterial community dynamics and supporting host-specific functions. However, detecting these bacteria remains challenging, as impurities in environmental samples mask signals and compromise the accuracy of analyses. This study explored the use of dielectrophoresis (DEP) as a practical approach to isolate low-abundance bacteria obscured by impurities, comparing its utility to conventional centrifugation methods. Using two shrimp species, Neocaridina denticulata and Penaeus japonicus, DEP effectively isolated bacterial fractions while reducing impurities, enabling the detection of bacteria undetected in centrifuged samples. These newly detected bacteria were potentially linked to diverse ecological and host-specific functions, such as nutrient cycling and immune modulation, highlighting DEP as a highly potential approach to support the study of host-microbial interactions. Overall, we believe that DEP offers a practical solution for detecting overlooked bacteria in conventional methods and exploring their diversity and functional roles, with potential contributions to aquaculture and environmental biotechnology.

It is fundamental to understand the status of microplastic contamination in various sea turtle rookeries to assess the current and future effects of microplastics on sea turtles. The Ogasawara Islands, Tokyo, Japan, are the largest rookeries for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Northwest Pacific and are remotely located 1,000 km from the Japanese mainland. To assess whether microplastic contamination occurred in the important nesting beaches of green turtles in the Northwest Pacific, we investigated the abundance and polymer types of microplastics collected at the surface and the nest depth (60 cm deep) in the sand of the 14 nesting beaches of the Ogasawara Islands. Results showed that microplastics were found at both the surface and the nest depth, and no significant difference in microplastic abundance was observed between them. The presence of microplastics at nest depth may be due to oceanographic and turtle nesting processes. Polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene were identified, and expanded polystyrene was predominant. Furthermore, hexabromocyclododecanes, which are frequently compounded additives for expanded polystyrene, were semi-quantitatively analyzed using a pyrolizer coupled with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer in half of the expanded polystyrene microplastics collected in the present study. Result showed that hexabromocyclododecanes were detected in more than 30% of the analyzed microplastics, and the microplastics from both the surface and the nest depth contained hexabromocyclododecanes. The toxicological effect of such plastic-associated chemicals on turtles is a concern if they are transferable during egg incubation. Our data provide a baseline for assessing microplastic contamination in sea turtles on the Ogasawara Islands. Fullsize Image

Background There is an urgent need to develop global observation networks to quantify biodiversity trends for evaluating achievements of targets of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Camera traps are a commonly used tool, with the potential to enhance global observation networks for monitoring wildlife population trends and has the capacity to constitute global observation networks by applying a unified sampling protocol. The Snapshot protocol is simple and easy for camera trapping which is applied in North America and Europe. However, there is no regional camera-trap network with the Snapshot protocol in Asia. New information We present the first dataset from a collaborative camera-trap survey using the Snapshot protocol in Japan conducted in 2023. We collected data at 90 locations across nine arrays for a total of 6162 trap-nights of survey effort. The total number of sequences with mammals and birds was 7967, including 20 mammal species and 23 avian species. Apart from humans, wild boar, sika deer and rodents were the most commonly observed taxa on the camera traps, covering 57.9% of all the animal individuals. We provide the dataset with a standard format of Wildlife Insights, but also with Camtrap DP 1.0 format. Our dataset can be used for a part of the global dataset for comparing relative abundances of wildlife and for a baseline of wildlife population trends in Japan. It can also used for training machine-learning models for automatic species identifications.

Effective chemical catalysts can artificially control intracellular metabolism. However, in conventional catalytic chemistry, activity and cytotoxicity have a trade-off relationship; thus, driving catalysts in living cells remains challenging. To overcome this critical issue at the interface between catalytic chemistry and biology, we developed cell-driven allosteric catalysts that exert catalytic activity at specific times. The synthesized allosteric redox catalysts up- and downregulated their foldase- and antioxidase-like activities in response to varying Ca²⁺ concentrations, which is a key factor for maintenance of the redox status in cells. In the absence of Ca²⁺ or at low Ca²⁺ concentrations, the compounds were mostly inactive and hence did not affect cell viability. In contrast, under specific conditions with elevated cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentrations, the activated compounds resisted the redox imbalance induced by the reactive oxygen species generated by Ca²⁺-stimulated mitochondria. Smart catalysts that crosstalk with biological phenomena may provide a platform for new prodrug development guidelines.