Utsunomiya University

About: Utsunomiya University is a education organization based out in Utsunomiya, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Laser & Holography. The organization has 4139 authors who have published 6812 publications receiving 91975 citations. The organization is also known as: Utsunomiya daigaku.

Altered cerebellum development and dopamine distribution in a rat genetic model with congenital hypothyroidism.

Abstract: Thyroid hormones play crucial roles in the development and functional maintenance of the central nervous system. Despite extensive studies of the neural function of thyroid hormones, little is known about the effects of hypothyroidism on behavioural traits and the mechanisms underlying such effects. In the present study, we report an investigation of congenitally hypothyroid mutant rdw rats, revealing a novel function of thyroid hormones in the central nervous system. The rdw rats were subjected to behavioural analyses such as the rotarod test, open field test and circadian activity measurement. To determine the cause of behavioural disorders, cerebellar morphogenesis was examined by immunohistochemical analysis, and the axonal transport of dopamine in the nigrostriatal pathway was analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography and western blotting. The effects of thyroxine administration to the rdw rats were examined by behavioural analysis. The rdw rats showed severe impairment of motor coordination and balance. This could be explained by the fact that the rats showed severe retardation of cerebellar morphogenesis, which correlates with the small somata and poor dendritic arborisation of Purkinje cells and retarded migration of granule cells particularly during the first two postnatal weeks. Moreover, the rdw rats showed hypoactivity, characterised by decreased circadian locomotor activity. After weaning, thyroxine administration improved the dwarfism in rdw rats but had no effect on cerebellar function. In addition, the rdw rats showed anxiety and depression intrinsically to novel surroundings. Interestingly, the rdw rats showed high levels of dopamine in the substantia nigra and low levels in the striatum, an important centre for the coordination of behaviour. Furthermore, low levels of tubulin in the striatum were detected, indicating the aberrant axonal transport of dopamine in the nigrostriatal pathway as a result of the reduced delivery of microtubules. These findings indicate an important function of thyroid hormones in cerebellar formation and in the regulation of axonal transport of dopamine. Moreover, rdw rats will be useful for studies of brain function and behavioural disorders in congenital hypothyroidism.

Multispectral demosaicking algorithm based on inter-channel correlation

Abstract: Conventional RGB image acquisition employs an image capturing system that utilizes color filter array (CFA) technology; however, it is limited in its ability to represent visible colors. Multispectral imaging based on filter array architecture is required for general image capturing because of its exquisite color representation system. However, it has several issues associated with spatial and spectral resolution. In this paper, we propose a new demosaicking method that improves reconstructed image quality by considering inter-channel correlation. Our proposed method strengthens the cross-correlation of demosaicked channels by repeating interpolations. Experimental results show that our proposed method generates better quality reconstructed images than conventional methods.

Observation of multi TeV diffuse gamma-rays from the galactic plane with the tibet air shower array

Abstract: Data from the Tibet III air shower array (with energies around 3 TeV) and from the Tibet II array (with energies around 10 TeV) have been searched for diffuse gamma rays from the Galactic plane. These arrays have an angular resolution of about 09. The sky regions searched are the inner Galaxy, 20? ? l ? 55?, and outer Galaxy, 140? ? l ? 225?, and |b| ? 2? or ? 5?. No significant Galactic-plane gamma-ray excess was observed. The 99% confidence level upper limits for gamma-ray intensity obtained are (for |b| ? 2?) 1.1 ? 10-15 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 MeV-1 at 3 TeV and 4.1 ? 10-17 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 MeV-1 at 10 TeV for the inner Galaxy, and 3.6 ? 10-16 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 MeV-1 at 3 TeV and 1.3 ? 10-17 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 MeV-1 at 10 TeV for the outer Galaxy, assuming a differential spectral index of 2.4. The upper limits are significant in the multi-TeV region when compared to those from Cerenkov telescopes in the lower energy region and other air shower arrays in the higher energy region; however, the results are not sufficient to rule out the inverse Compton model with a source electron spectral index of 2.0.

Effects of aqueous extract of rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) on seed germination and radicle elongation of Monochoria vaginalis var. plantaginea

Abstract: Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the allelopathic potentials of rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) on seed germination and radicle elongation of Monochoria vaginalis (Burm. f.) Presl var. plantaginea (Roxb.) Solms-Laubat. To compare the relative allelopathic potentials of rice plants at different growth stages, aqueous extracts of dried tissues were obtained from the seeds, husks, and seedlings harvested 10, 20, 40 and 120 days after seeding. When M. vaginalis seeds were incubated in solutions containing aqueous extracts, significant increases in the germination rate were observed for all the aqueous extracts except for the extract of 10 d-old shoots at higher dosages. When partitioned with ethyl acetate, the germination-promoter(s) in the aqueous extracts remained in the aqueous phase while some inhibitors were extracted with ethyl acetate. In contrast, aqueous shoot extracts added to the incubation media at the same dosage for promotion of seed germination inhibited radicle elongation of M. vaginalis, indicating that the sensitivity of the weed varies between these two growth stages.