The present study aimed to clarify sulcation and gyration patterns in the developing cerebrum of ferrets. While the brain weight and fronto-occipital length of the cerebral hemisphere reached a plateau by postnatal day (PD) 42, the cerebral width reached a plateau at the rostral region by PD 21, and subsequently at the caudal region by PD 42. The ferret cerebrum already showed a convoluted surface with indentations of coronal and rostral suprasylvian sulci on PD 4. The presylvian and cruciate sulci emerged by PD 10, resulting in convolutions of gyri in the rostral half of the cerebrum. The caudal half of the cerebrum was infolded by the emergence of the pseudosylvian sulcus and the rhinal fissure by PD 10, and the caudal suprasylvian and lateral sulci by PD 21. The emergence of those sulci allowed a gyration in the caudal half of the cerebrum. Sexual differences in sulcation were detected by a more distinct convolution of the visual cortex in males than in females on PD 90. Those results, therefore, suggest that the ferret cerebrum experiences cortical maturation with sulcation and gyration in a rostrocaudal gradient manner. The present paper provides neuroanatomic references for normal development of cerebral sulci and gyri in both sexes of ferrets.

We measured the concentrations of organophosphorus pesticide chlorpyrifos-methyl, pirimiphos-methyl and fenitrothion residues in domestic and imported commercial wheat products flour, noodles, cookies collected from 2008 to 2016. Chlorpyrifos-methyl and fenitrothion in domestic flour samples were detected in 16 out of 34 samples at levels of 0.001 to 0.016 ppm, and in 14 out of 34 samples at levels of 0.001 to 0.004 ppm. Chlorpyrifos-methyl was detected in 22 out of 38 domestic cookies at levels of 0.001 to 0.054 ppm median: 0.001 ppm . Relatively high concentrations of chlorpyrifos-methyl 0.005 to 0.054 ppm were found in six domestic cookies containing wheat bran. Pirimiphos-methyl was detected in 32 out of 68 cookies from foreign countries at levels of 0.001 to 0.11 ppm. Pirimiphos-methyl was detected frequently in products imported from Europe.

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We screened natural resources for estrogen receptor (ER)-activating and bone metabolism-promoting activities with the aim of finding potential treatments for osteoporosis. A screen of 1531 extracts from Ryukyu Arc plants using a luciferase reporter assay identified an 80% MeOH extract of Scutellaria rubropunctata var. rubropunctata (SRE) with dose-dependent ER transcription-promoting activity. Importantly, SRE had no proliferative effect on human breast cancer cells. SRE enhanced the ALP activity of pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells after 72 h in culture and slightly enhanced mineralization at 14 and 21 d. SRE did not significantly affect the TRAP activity of RAW264.7 cells. Gene expression analysis in MC3T3-E1 cells by quantitative real-time PCR revealed that SRE upregulated the mRNA levels of Runx2, Osterix (Osx), Osteopontin (Opn), Osteocalcin (Ocn), Smad1, Smad4, and Smad5 at 72 h, and those of Runx2, Osx, Smad1, Smad4, and Smad5 at 21 d of osteogenic induction. Analysis of the expression levels of osteogenic markers suggested that SRE may promote osteogenic differentiation by acting at the early stage of differentiation rather than at the late stage of differentiation. These results indicate that SRE activates ER and induces osteoblast differentiation by activating Runx2 and Osx through the BMP/Smad pathway, suggesting that SRE may be useful for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Members of theClosterium peracerosum–strigosum–littorale(C. psl.) complex are unicellular zygnematophycean algae, which are suggested to be closely related to land plants. A zygospore is typically formed as a result of conjugation between mating-type plus (mt+) and mating-type minus (mt–) cells during sexual reproduction in heterothallic strains. On the other hand, zygospores are formed between genetically identical cells in homothallic strains. In this study, we isolated novel homothallic strains in theC. psl.complex. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the polyphyly of homothallic strains, suggesting multiple transitions between homothallism and heterothallism in theC. psl.complex. We measured the 1C genome size of theC. psl.complex by using flow cytometry after staining nuclei with propidium iodide, which ranged from 0.53 to 1.42 Gbp. We counted chromosome numbers using confocal microscope images, finding that two homothallic strains had fewer chromosomes than four heterothallic strains. Genome size positively correlated with both the cell size and chromosome number. Chromosome numbers differed even within the same mating group, suggesting a mechanism tolerating chromosomal rearrangements during meiosis in theC. psl.complex.