1. The effects of dietary corticosterone and trilostane, an inhibitor of glucocorticoid synthesis, on: growth, rates of synthesis and breakdown of skeletal muscle protein, and content of abdominal fat were studied in broiler chickens. 2. Dietary corticosterone (5, 10 or 20 mg/kg) depressed body weight gain and increased abdominal fat content in a dose-dependent manner while dietary trilostane (1.4 or 7.0 mg/kg) had no effect. 3. The rate of protein breakdown in skeletal muscle estimated from N tau-methylhistidine excretion was increased in a dose-dependent manner by dietary corticosterone but it was decreased by trilostane. 4. The rate of skeletal muscle protein synthesis was not affected by corticosterone although it was decreased by trilostane. 5. Plasma corticosterone concentration was increased in a dose-dependent manner by dietary corticosterone and decreased by treatment with 7 mg trilostane/kg diet. 6. The results indicate that higher concentrations of plasma corticosterone increase protein breakdown in skeletal muscle but do not affect muscle protein synthesis while both the rates of synthesis and breakdown are decreased when plasma corticosterone concentration is reduced.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bactericidal effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) on an infected dentin model. Dentin plates were prepared from extracted human molars and infected through immersion in a solution of Streptococcus mutans. The nine experimental groups consisted of two laser irradiation groups (650 nm laser: 650 laser and 940 nm laser: 940 laser), two photosensitizer groups (methylene blue: MB, and azulenocyanine: Azc), four aPDT groups (650 nm laser irradiation of MB: 650 laser-MB, 650 nm laser irradiation of Azc: 650 laser-Azc, 940 nm laser irradiation of MB: 940 laser-MB and 940 nm laser irradiation of Azc: 940 laser-Azc) and a control. The bactericidal effects on each group were evaluated by colony count and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assays. Based on the results of the colony count assay, the 650 laser-MB and 940 laser-MB groups formed significantly fewer colonies than the other experimental groups. Significantly fewer colonies were observed in the 940 laser-Azc group than in the control, but significant differences in the numbers of colonies were not observed between the 650 laser-Azc and control groups. The 940 laser group formed slightly fewer colonies than the 650 laser group, but the difference was not significant. In addition, the number of colonies in the MB group was significantly less than the number in the Azc group. The results of the ATP assay were similar to those of the colony count assay. aPDT with MB showed a significant bactericidal effect on dentin plates infected with S. mutans.

The Bayesian estimation theory proposes that the brain acquires the prior distribution of a task and integrates it with sensory signals to minimize the effect of sensory noise. Psychophysical studies have demonstrated that our brain actually implements Bayesian estimation in a variety of sensory-motor tasks. However, these studies only imposed one prior distribution on participants within a task period. In this study, we investigated the conditions that enable the acquisition of multiple prior distributions in temporal order judgment of two tactile stimuli across the hands. In Experiment 1, stimulation intervals were randomly selected from one of two prior distributions (biased to right hand earlier and biased to left hand earlier) in association with color cues (green and red, respectively). Although the acquisition of the two priors was not enabled by the color cues alone, it was significant when participants shifted their gaze (above or below) in response to the color cues. However, the acquisition of multiple priors was not significant when participants moved their mouths (opened or closed). In Experiment 2, the spatial cues (above and below) were used to identify which eye position or retinal cue position was crucial for the eye-movement-dependent acquisition of multiple priors in Experiment 1. The acquisition of the two priors was significant when participants moved their gaze to the cues (i.e., the cue positions on the retina were constant across the priors), as well as when participants did not shift their gazes (i.e., the cue positions on the retina changed according to the priors). Thus, both eye and retinal cue positions were effective in acquiring multiple priors. Based on previous neurophysiological reports, we discuss possible neural correlates that contribute to the acquisition of multiple priors.

No abstract

No abstract