Perceptual simultaneity range for two dichotically presented pure tones with frequency separation below 0.5 Bark.

The perceptual simultaneity range for two diotically presented tones increases with decreasing frequency separation of the two tones from approximately 0.5 Bark. As the present study of two frequency regions shows, this effect is not observed when the two tones are not presented to the same ear, i.e., presented dichotically. Since the increase in simultaneity is only observed when the tones are presented to the same ear, it is possible that it reflects the time-frequency uncertainty within a cochlear filter.

Emotional response evoked by viewing facial expression pictures leads to higher temporal resolution.

We examined the effects of emotional response, with different levels of valence and arousal, on the temporal resolution of visual processing by using photos of various facial expressions. As an index of the temporal resolution of visual processing, we measured the minimum lengths of the noticeable durations for desaturated photographs using the method of constant stimuli by switching colorful facial expression photographs to desaturated versions of the same photographs. Experiments 1 and 2 used facial photographs that evoke various degrees of arousal and valence. Those photographs were prepared not only in an upright orientation but also in an inverted orientation to reduce emotional response without changing the photographs' image properties. Results showed that the minimum duration to notice monochrome photographs for anger, fear, and joy was shorter than that for a neutral face when viewing upright face photographs but not when viewing inverted face photographs. For Experiment 3, we used facial expression photographs to evoke various degrees of arousal. Results showed that the temporal resolution of visual processing increased with the degree of arousal. These results suggest that the arousal of emotional responses evoked by viewing facial expressions might increase the temporal resolution of visual processing.

New Hybrid Spikelet Sterility Gene Found in Interspecific Cross between Oryza sativa and O. meridionalis.

Various kinds of reproductive barriers have been reported in intraspecific and interspecific crosses between the AA genome Oryza species, to which Asian rice (O. sativa) and African rice (O. glaberrima) belong. A hybrid seed sterility phenomenon was found in the progeny of the cross between O. sativa and O. meridionalis, which is found in Northern Australia and Indonesia and has diverged from the other AA genome species. This phenomenon could be explained by an egg-killer model. Linkage analysis using DNA markers showed that the causal gene was located on the distal end of chromosome 1. Because no known egg-killer gene was located in that chromosomal region, this gene was named HYBRID SPIKELET STERILITY 57 (abbreviated form, S57). In heterozygotes, the eggs carrying the sativa allele are killed, causing semi-sterility. This killer system works incompletely: some eggs carrying the sativa allele survive and can be fertilized. The distribution of alleles in wild populations of O. meridionalis was discussed from the perspective of genetic differentiation of populations.

Edoxaban Monotherapy in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Current guidelines recommend an oral anticoagulant (OAC) monotherapy in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and stable coronary artery disease (CAD) 1 year postpercutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). It might be possible to shorten the time for de-escalation from a dual therapy to monotherapy, but data regarding de-escalation to an edoxaban monotherapy are lacking. This study aimed to assess the clinical safety of an edoxaban monotherapy in patients with NVAF and stable CAD. Methods: A multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, and parallel group study was established to investigate the safety of an edoxaban monotherapy in patients with NVAF and stable CAD including over 6 months postimplantation of a third-generation DES and 1 year postimplantation of other stents (PRAEDO AF study). Between March 2018 and June 2020, 147 patients from 8 institutions in Japan were randomized to receive either an edoxaban monotherapy (n = 74) or combination therapy (edoxaban plus clopidogrel, n = 73). The primary study endpoint was the composite incidence of major bleeding and clinically significant bleeding, defined according to the ISTH criteria. Results: Major or clinically significant bleeding occurred in 2 patients in the monotherapy group (1.67% per patient-year) and in 5 patients in the combination therapy group (4.28% per patient-year) (hazard ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.08-2.02). There was no incidence of a myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, unstable angina requiring revascularization, ischemic stroke, systemic stroke, or hemorrhagic stroke in either of the groups. Conclusions: The edoxaban monotherapy was shown to have acceptable clinical safety in patients with NVAF and stable CAD. The study was registered with the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCTs031180119).

Clinical outcomes for intracoronary imaging strategies at different medical facilities in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease: the SAKURA imaging PCI Registry.

The relationships between intracoronary imaging modalities and outcomes among Japanese patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) based on the type of medical facility providing outpatient care remain unclear. In this multicenter prospective study (SAKURA PCI Registry), we aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients with CAD who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between April 2015 and December 2018. In this registry, we investigated differences in patient characteristics, intracoronary imaging modalities, and clinical outcomes between two types of medical facilities. Of the 414 patients enrolled in this registry, 196 were treated at two university hospitals, and 218 were treated at five community hospitals (median follow-up 11.0 months). The primary endpoint was clinically relevant events (CREs), including a composite of all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, clinically driven target lesion revascularization, stent thrombosis, stroke, and major bleeding. Patients treated at university hospitals had higher rates of diabetes (50% vs. 38%, p = 0.015) and malignant tumors (12% vs. 6%, p = 0.015) and more frequent use of multiple intracoronary imaging modalities than patients treated at community hospitals (21% vs. 0.5%, p < 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier incidence of CREs at 1 year was comparable between university hospitals and community hospitals (8.8% vs. 7.3%, p = 0.527, log-rank test). Despite the relatively higher risk among patients in university hospitals with frequent use of multi-intracoronary imaging modalities, adverse clinical events appeared to be comparable between patients with CAD treated at university and community hospitals in Japan.

Predicting individual emotion from perception-based non-contact sensor big data.

This study proposes a system for estimating individual emotions based on collected indoor environment data for human participants. At the first step, we develop wireless sensor nodes, which collect indoor environment data regarding human perception, for monitoring working environments. The developed system collects indoor environment data obtained from the developed sensor nodes and the emotions data obtained from pulse and skin temperatures as big data. Then, the proposed system estimates individual emotions from collected indoor environment data. This study also investigates whether sensory data are effective for estimating individual emotions. Indoor environmental data obtained by developed sensors and emotions data obtained from vital data were logged over a period of 60 days. Emotions were estimated from indoor environmental data by machine learning method. The experimental results show that the proposed system achieves about 80% or more estimation correspondence by using multiple types of sensors, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed system. Our obtained result that emotions can be determined with high accuracy from environmental data is a useful finding for future research approaches.

Zoledronate promotes inflammatory cytokine expression in human CD14-positive monocytes among peripheral mononuclear cells in the presence of γδ T cells.

Bisphosphonates distributed to bone exert toxic effects specifically towards osteoclasts. On the other hand, intravenous administration of a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP) such as zoledronate induces acute-phase reactions (APRs), including influenza-like fever 1 day later, indicating an interaction with immunocompetent cells circulating blood. Although it has been reported that activation of γδ T cells is pivotal to induce an APR following treatment with zoledronate, downstream events, including the production of inflammatory cytokines after activation of γδ T cells, remain obscure. We investigated the effects of zoledronate on inflammatory cytokine expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in vitro. While zoledronate induced mRNA expressions of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6 and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in PBMC, depletion of γδ T cells abolished that zoledronate-induced expression of those cytokines, indicating the necessity of γδ T cells for expression induction by zoledronate. However, which types of cells were responsible for the production of those cytokines in blood remained unclear. As it is generally accepted that monocytes and macrophages are primary sources of inflammatory cytokines, CD14+ cells from PBMC were exposed to zoledronate in the presence of PBMC, which resulted in induced expression of mRNAs for IL-1ß, IL-6 and IFN-γ, but not for TNF-α. These results indicate that CD14+ cells are responsible, at least in part, for the production of IL-1ß, IL-6 and IFN-γ in blood exposed to zoledronate. This suggests that CD14+ cells play an essential role in the occurrence of APRs following N-BP administration.

Perceived Duration Depends Upon Target Detection in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Sequence.

It is well known that the perceived duration for a given time period decreases with the reduction of the number of perceived events. We examined whether target detection failures in viewing Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) sequence, caused by attentional blink, affect this reduction of perceived duration. In two experiments, trials consisted of displays of two series of RSVP sequences; in the first sequence (the comparison), two, one, or no numerals were presented as targets embedded within the string of letters, while in the second sequence (the standard), only alphabetic letters were presented. In each trial, participants judged whether the duration of the comparison is perceived as longer than that of the standard (Experiment 1), or whether the number of frames in the comparison is perceived as more than that in the standard (Experiment 2). Results showed that perceived duration was inflated with target detection, but not with the increment of presented frames although number of perceived frames was inflated with both target detection and increment of presented frames. These results suggest that perceived duration in viewing RSVP sequences is determined by the cognitive load necessary to accomplish target detection rather than by the number of perceived frames.

Enantioselectivity of 2,2',3,5',6-Pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 95) Atropisomers toward Ryanodine Receptors (RyRs) and Their Influences on Hippocampal Neuronal Networks.

Nineteen ortho-substituted PCBs are chiral and found enantioselectively enriched in ecosystems. Their differential actions on biological targets are not understood. PCB 95 (2,2',3,5',6-pentachlorobiphenyl), a chiral PCB of current environmental relevance, is among the most potent toward modifying ryanodine receptors (RyR) function and Ca2+ signaling. PCB 95 enantiomers are separated and assigned aR- and aS-PCB 95 using three chiral-column HPLC and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Studies of RyR1-enriched microsomes show aR-PCB 95 with >4× greater potency (EC50 = 0.20 ± 0.05 µM), ∼ 1.3× higher efficacy (Bmax = 3.74 ± 0.07 µM) in [3H]Ryanodine-binding and >3× greater rates (R = 7.72 ± 0.31 nmol/sec/mg) of Ca2+ efflux compared with aS-PCB 95, whereas racemate has intermediate activity. aR-PCB 95 has modest selectivity for RyR2, and lower potency than racemate toward the RyR isoform mixture in brain membranes. Chronic exposure of hippocampal neuronal networks to nanomolar PCB 95 during a critical developmental period shows divergent influences on synchronous Ca2+ oscillation (SCO): rac-PCB 95 increasing and aR-PCB 95 decreasing SCO frequency at 50 nM, although the latter's effects are nonmonotonic at higher concentration. aS-PCB95 shows the greatest influence on inhibiting responses to 20 Hz electrical pulse trains. Considering persistence of PCB 95 in the environment, stereoselectivity toward RyRs and developing neuronal networks may clarify health risks associated with enantioisomeric enrichment of PCBs.

Motion Capture Depends Upon the Common Fate Factor Among Elements.

When observers move the head backwards and forwards while fixating on the center of the concentric circles that consist of oblique lines, they see illusory rotation of those circles. If several dots are superimposed on the proximity to the inner concentric circles, observers see the illusory rotation not only for the circles but also for the superimposed dots. This illusory rotation of the dots is based on motion capture. In this study, in order to understand the basis of the motion capture, we examined how motion signal with different directions (rotation, expansion/contraction, and horizontal translation) in terms of motion on a display, as well as illusory motion signal from the oblique components, affects the motion capture. If the stimulus presented rotation with expansion/contraction, or rotation with horizontal translation for the entire stimulus, then observers tended to perceive motion capture for the superimposed dots. However, if the stimulus presented only rotation of the circles, then observers tended to perceive induced motion for the superimposed dots. These results suggest that the existences of the common fate factor for the entire stimulus determine the means of allocating and integrating the motion signal in each element in the stimulus to generate motion capture.

Visual Presentation Effects on Identification of Multiple Environmental Sounds.

This study examined how the contents and timing of a visual stimulus affect the identification of mixed sounds recorded in a daily life environment. For experiments, we presented four environment sounds as auditory stimuli for 5 s along with a picture or a written word as a visual stimulus that might or might not denote the source of one of the four sounds. Three conditions of temporal relations between the visual stimuli and sounds were used. The visual stimulus was presented either: (a) for 5 s simultaneously with the sound; (b) for 5 s, 1 s before the sound (SOA between the audio and visual stimuli was 6 s); or (c) for 33 ms, 1 s before the sound (SOA was 1033 ms). Participants reported all identifiable sounds for those audio-visual stimuli. To characterize the effects of visual stimuli on sound identification, the following were used: the identification rates of sounds for which the visual stimulus denoted its sound source, the rates of other sounds for which the visual stimulus did not denote the sound source, and the frequency of false hearing of a sound that was not presented for each sound set. Results of the four experiments demonstrated that a picture or a written word promoted identification of the sound when it was related to the sound, particularly when the visual stimulus was presented for 5 s simultaneously with the sounds. However, a visual stimulus preceding the sounds had a benefit only for the picture, not for the written word. Furthermore, presentation with a picture denoting a sound simultaneously with the sound reduced the frequency of false hearing. These results suggest three ways that presenting a visual stimulus affects identification of the auditory stimulus. First, activation of the visual representation extracted directly from the picture promotes identification of the denoted sound and suppresses the processing of sounds for which the visual stimulus did not denote the sound source. Second, effects based on processing of the conceptual information promote identification of the denoted sound and suppress the processing of sounds for which the visual stimulus did not denote the sound source. Third, processing of the concurrent visual representation suppresses false hearing.

Awareness of Temporal Lag is Necessary for Motor-Visual Temporal Recalibration.

Consistent exposure to a temporal lag between observers' voluntary action and its visual feedback induced recalibration of temporal order perception between a motor action and a visual stimulus. It remains unclear what kinds of processing underlie this motor-visual temporal recalibration. This study examined the necessity of awareness of a temporal lag between a motor action and its visual feedback for motor-visual temporal recalibration. In Experiment 1, we allocated observers to either the multiple-step or single-step lag conditions. In the multiple-step lag condition, we first inserted a small temporal lag and subsequently increased it with progress of the adaptation period, to make observers unaware of the temporal lag during the adaptation period. In the single-step lag condition, we instructed observers about the temporal lag before adaptation, and inserted a substantial temporal lag from the beginning of the adaptation period to ensure that they were aware of the temporal lag. We found significant recalibration only in the single-step lag condition. In Experiment 2, we exposed all observers to a substantial temporal lag from the beginning of adaptation period with no instruction about insertion of the temporal lag. We asked observers at the end of the experiment whether they were aware of the temporal lag. We found significant recalibration for only observers who were aware of the lag. These results suggest that awareness of the temporal lag plays a crucial role in motor-visual temporal recalibration.

Basis for motion capture in terms of illusory motion signal obtained from oblique lines.

As in the Pinna illusion, when an observer moves their head backwards and forwards while fixating on the center of concentric circles that consist of oblique lines, the observer sees illusory rotation of those circles. When several dots are superimposed on the concentric circles, an observer sees the illusory rotation not only for the circles, but also for those dots (Ichikawa, Masakura, & Munechika, 2006, Perception, 35, 933-946). This illusory rotation of the dots, which have no means of generating illusory motion themselves, is based on motion capture. We examined how the number of dots affects the illusory rotation for such circles and superimposed dots. Results showed that the illusory rotation for the inner circle was most salient when the superimposed dots were extremely numerous or few, although the illusory motion for the dots increased with the increment of the dots. These results suggest that motion capture depends upon a locally obtained motion signal from the oblique lines, and upon the accumulation of the motion signal within the groups of superimposed dots.

Effects of consciousness and consistency in manual control of visual stimulus on reduction of the flash-lag effect for luminance change.

Four experiments investigated how observers' consciousness about their control of stimulus change affects the visual perception associated with the illusory flash-lag effect. In previous study (Ichikawa and Masakura, 2006), we found that the flash-lag effect in motion is reduced if observers were conscious that they were controlling stimulus movements by the use of computer mouse, even if the stimulus moved automatically, independently of observer's mouse control. In the other study (Ichikawa and Masakura, 2010a), we found that the consistent directional relationship between the observer's mouse control and stimulus movement, which is learned in our everyday computer use, is important for the reduction of the flash-lag effect in active observation. In the present study, we examined whether the reduction of the flash-lag effect in active observation requires the observers' consciousness about their control of stimulus change, and consistency in coupling mouse movement direction and stimulus change across trials in experiments. We used the flash-lag effect in luminance change because there is no intrinsic relationship between observer's mouse control and luminance change in our everyday computer use. We compared the illusory flash-lag effects for automatic change of the luminance with luminance change that was controlled by the observers' active manipulation of a computer mouse. Because the flash occurs randomly in time, observers could not anticipate when the flash was presented. Results suggest that the not only observer's consciousness of controlling the stimulus, but also consistency in coupling mouse movement direction with stimulus change, are required for the reduction of the flash-lag effect in active observation. The basis of the reduction of the flash-lag effect in active observation is discussed.

Non-retinotopic motor-visual recalibration to temporal lag.

Temporal order judgment (TOJ) between the voluntary motor action and its perceptual feedback is important in distinguishing between a sensory feedback which is caused by observer's own action and other stimulus, which are irrelevant to that action. Prolonged exposure to fixed temporal lag between motor action and visual feedback recalibrates motor-visual temporal relationship, and consequently shifts the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS). Previous studies on the audio-visual temporal recalibration without voluntary action revealed that the low level processing is involved. However, it is not clear how the low and high level processings affect the recalibration to constant temporal lag between voluntary action and visual feedback. This study examined retinotopic specificity of the motor-visual temporal recalibration. During the adaptation phase, observers repeatedly pressed a key, and visual stimulus was presented in left or right visual field with a fixed temporal lag (0 or 200 ms). In the test phase, observers performed a TOJ for observer's voluntary keypress and test stimulus, which was presented in the same as or opposite to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented in the adaptation phase. We found that the PSS was shifted toward the exposed lag in both visual fields. These results suggest that the low visual processing, which is retinotopically specific, has minor contribution to the motor-visual temporal lag adaptation, and that the adaptation to shift the PSS mainly depends upon the high level processing such as attention to specific properties of the stimulus.

Three-dimensional visualization of scoring mechanism of 'AngioSculpt' balloon for calcified coronary lesions using optical coherence tomography.

Despite developments in coronary interventional cardiology, plaque calcification is a critical issue of stent expansion. AngioSculpt Scoring Balloon Catheter® (AngioSculpt; AngioScore Inc., Fremont, CA, USA) can produce more 'scoring' marks, which leads to prevention of 'plaque shift' and 'balloon slippage'; moreover, the 'scoring' produces some cutting effect, leading to successful stent implantation even on severe calcified lesions. We have applied AngioSculpt on severe calcified lesions to achieve its adequate expansion, and report the mechanism of the 'scoring' and its efficacy evaluated by three-dimensional stereoscopic reconstruction (3-D) of optical coherence tomography (OCT; LightLab Imaging, Inc., Westford, MA, USA). The patient is a 64-year-old male, who had diffuse stenosis in the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) with severe calcifications, and was treated using AngioSculpt. AngioSculpt predilatation with a high pressure led to successful stent implantation. The radial scores were clearly imaged by 3-D OCT, demonstrating that radial nitinol wires made spiral indents from the relative weak points at the surface adjacent to calcification, which resulted in a less traumatic and safe dilatation although the scoring mark was not recognized clearly in intravascular ultrasound. This report suggests AngioSculpt might become one of the options for a severe calcified lesion.

Angle illusion in a straight road.

We report a new angle illusion observed when viewing a real scene involving a straight road. The scene portrays two white lines which outline a traffic lane on a road and converge to a vanishing point. In experiment 1, observers estimated the angle created by these converging lines in this scene or in its image projected onto a screen. Results showed strong underestimation of the angle, ie over 50% for observations of both the real scene and its projected image. Experiment 2 assessed how depth cues in projected images influence the angle illusion. Results showed that this angle illusion disappeared when scene information surrounding convergent lines was removed. In addition, the illusion was attenuated with projection of an inverted scene image. These findings are interpreted in terms of a misadoption of depth information in the processing of angle perception in a flat image; in turn, this induces a massive angle illusion.

Reduction of the flash-lag effect in terms of active observation.

In the present study, we investigated how observers' control of stimulus change affects temporal and spatial aspects of visual perception. We compared the illusory flash-lag effects for automatic movement of the stimulus with stimulus movement that was controlled by the observers' active manipulation of a computer mouse (Experiments 1, 2, and 5), a keyboard (Experiment 3), or a trackball (Experiment 4). We found that the flash-lag effect was significantly reduced when the observer was familiar with the directional relationship between the mouse movement and stimulus movement on a front parallel display (Experiments 1 and 2) and that, although the unfamiliar directional relationship between the mouse movement and stimulus movement increased the flash-lag effect at the beginning of the experimental session, the repetitive observation with the same unfamiliar directional relationship reduced the flash-lag effect (Experiment 5). We found no consistent reduction of the flash-lag effect with the use of a keyboard or a trackball (Experiments 3 and 4). These results suggest that the learning of a specific directional relationship between a proprioceptive signal of hand movements and a visual signal of stimulus movements is necessary for the reduction of the flash-lag effect.