Relaxin-3 is a neuropeptide belonging to the relaxin/insulin superfamily. Studies using rodents have revealed that relaxin-3 is predominantly expressed in neurons in the nucleus incertus (NI) of the pons, the axons of which project to forebrain regions including the hypothalamus. There is evidence that relaxin-3 is involved in several functions, including food intake and stress responses. In the present study, we generated relaxin-3 gene knockout (KO) mice and examined them using a range of behavioral tests of sensory/motor functions and emotion-related behaviors. The results revealed that relaxin-3 KO mice exhibited normal growth and appearance, and were generally indistinguishable from wild genotype littermates. There was no difference in bodyweight among genotypes until at least 28 weeks after birth. In addition, there were no significant differences between wild-type and KO mice in locomotor activity, social interaction, hot plate test performance, fear conditioning, depression-like behavior, and Y-maze test performance. However, in the elevated plus maze test, KO mice exhibited a robust increase in the tendency to enter open arms, although they exhibited normal performance in a light/dark transition test and showed no difference from wild-type mice in the time spent in central area in the open field test. On the other hand, a significant increase in the acoustic startle response was observed in KO mice. These results indicate that relaxin-3 is slightly involved in the anxiety-related behavior.

Micro-temperature sensors, which composed of a Cu2O-rich sensing part and two Cu-rich electrodes, were directly fabricated by femtosecond laser reduction patterning of CuO nanoparticles. Patterning of the microstructures was performed by laser scanning with pitches of 5, 10, and 15 µm. Cu2O-rich micropatterns were formed at the laser scan speed of 1 mm/s, the pitch of 5 µm, and the pulse energy of 0.54 nJ. Cu-rich micropatterns that had high generation selectivity of Cu against Cu2O were fabricated at the laser scan speed of 15 mm/s, the pitch of 5 µm, and the pulse energy of 0.45 nJ. Electrical resistivities of the Cu2O- and Cu-rich micropatterns were approximately 10 Ω m and 9 µΩ m, respectively. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the micro-temperature sensor fabricated under these laser irradiation conditions was −5.5 × 10−3/°C. This resistance property with a negative value was consistent with that of semiconductor Cu2O.

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