How do differences in native language affect out-of-body experiences?

Out-of-body experiences are scientifically inducible cognitive phenomena attracting global attention due to their application in the Metaverse and medical care. Despite previous studies suggesting that one's native language influences one's cognition, the out-of-body experiences of humans with different native languages have not been investigated separately. This study replicated an experiment from a 2007 study to investigate whether differences in native language affect the ability to have scientifically induced out-of-body experiences. A total of 19 age-matched native English and Japanese speakers completed the experiment in two blocks. Thereafter, their experiences were evaluated using questionnaires, and their responses were compared. Importantly, no significant differences between the English and Japanese native-speaker conditions were found. The results showed that out-of-body experiences were induced similarly in both groups, suggesting that people can have out-of-body experiences as a response to similar stimuli, regardless of their native language. However, differences in participants' introspective reports suggested that their experiences may differ qualitatively, possibly, due to the different linguistic backgrounds. The elucidation of the mechanisms of science-assisted out-of-body experiences that consider different cultural and cognitive characteristics, such as native language, could lead to the investigation of their applications in the borderless Metaverse and medicine.

Presence of low-energy chlorophylls d in photosystem I trimer and monomer cores isolated from Acaryochloris sp. NBRC 102871.

Acaryochloris species belong to a special category of cyanobacteria possessing chlorophyll (Chl) d. One of the photosynthetic characteristics of Acaryochloris marina MBIC11017 is that the absorption spectra of photosystem I (PSI) showed almost no bands and shoulders of low-energy Chls d over 740 nm. In contrast, the absorption spectra of other Acaryochloris species showed a shoulder around 740 nm, suggesting that low-energy Chls d within PSI are diversified among Acaryochloris species. In this study, we purified PSI trimer and monomer cores from Acaryochloris sp. NBRC 102871 and examined their protein and pigment compositions and spectral properties. The protein bands and pigment compositions of the PSI trimer and monomer of NBRC102871 were virtually identical to those of MBIC11017. The absorption spectra of the NBRC102871 PSIs exhibited a shoulder around 740 nm, whereas the fluorescence spectra of PSI trimer and monomer displayed maximum peaks at 754 and 767 nm, respectively. These spectral properties were different from those of MBIC11017, indicating the presence of low-energy Chls d within the NBRC102871 PSIs. Moreover, we analyzed the NBRC102871 genome to identify amino acid sequences of PSI proteins and compared them with those of the A. marina MBIC11017 and MBIC10699 strains whose genomes are available. The results showed that some of the sequences in NBRC102871 were distinct from those in MBIC11017 and MBIC10699. These findings provide insights into the variety of low-energy Chls d with respect to the protein environments of PSI cores among the three Acaryochloris strains.

From Basics of Coordination Chemistry to Understanding Cisplatin-analogue Pt Drugs.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin, a platinum complex discovered by Rosenberg in 1969, has long been known as the first metal-based anticancer agent. Since then, various similar derivatives of cisplatin have been investigated for pharmacological activity, and the approved complexes have been applied as drugs. OBJECTIVES: The aims of the current study are: 1) to summarize the advantages and dose-limiting effects of the approved and unapproved chemotherapy platinum cytostatics, 2) to develop new strategies for the development of platinum anticancer drugs, and 3) to clarify the important factors for the mechanism of action of platinum complexes. METHODS: A search was conducted in the literature databases, and the obtained information was summarized and analyzed. RESULTS: Myelosuppression is the main dose-limiting effect and the reason for the disapproval of platinum complexes, such as picoplatin, enloplatin, miboplatin, sebriplatin, zeniplatin, spiroplatin, iproplatin, and ormaplatin. From the basic point of view of inorganic coordination chemistry, such as theoretical calculations, crystal structures of model complexes, docking structures with nucleic acid molecules, spectroscopy, and biological aspects, the importance of physicochemical properties of inorganic platinum complexes for their mechanism of action has been indicated. Spectroscopic methods, such as FTIR, NMR, X-ray crystal structure analysis, and fluorescence microscopy, are important for the investigation of the conformational changes in the binding of platinum complexes and DNA. CONCLUSION: In the development of platinum complexes, strong anti-cancer drug activity, low toxicity, and resistance can be obtained by the application of polynuclear platinum agents, complexes with targeted activity, and nanoparticle formulations. Electronic structure, stereochemical, and thermodynamic properties are essential for understanding the reaction mechanism of platinum complexes.

Changes in oral pathology teaching methods during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on student performance (oral pathology teaching changes during the COVID-19 pandemic).

Abstract Background/purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has influenced the dental education in Osaka Dental University. The purpose of this study was to summarize the impact of COVID-19 on student performance and the current more appropriate teaching methods by comparing the changes in various oral pathology exam results before and after COVID-19. Materials and methods: The experimental and control groups consisted of second year students in the department of dentistry at our university for the years 2019 (136 people) and 2020 (125 people). The impact of different teaching methods on student performance was compared by calculating the mean scores and percentage of failures on various exams and whether or not class credits were earned between the two years. A t test was used to determine statistical significance. Results: The mean scores on the mini-tests were lower in 2020 than in 2019, while the average score of the intermediate exam and the number of students receiving class credits were higher. The mean scores on the practical and unit exams were not statistically significant between the years, but the failure rate on both exams was higher in 2019 than in 2020. Conclusion: COVID-19 had impacts on student performance. A comparison of the mean scores on the exams revealed that the use of microscopy, oral questions, and online animations contributed to improved performance on different exams. Therefore, to promote students' understanding and retention of memorized knowledge of oral pathology, the use of microscopes will be resumed whenever possible, as well as continuation with oral questions and online animations.

Auxin-Induced WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX13 Mediates Asymmetric Activity of Callus Formation upon Cutting.

Plants have the regenerative ability to reconnect cut organs, which is physiologically important to survive severe tissue damage. The ability to reconnect organs is utilized as grafting to combine two different individuals. Callus formation at the graft junction facilitates organ attachment and vascular reconnection. While it is well documented that local wounding signals provoke callus formation, how callus formation is differentially regulated at each cut end remains elusive. Here, we report that callus formation activity is asymmetrical between the top and bottom cut ends and is regulated by differential auxin accumulation. Gene expression analyses revealed that cellular auxin response is preferentially upregulated in the top part of the graft. Disruption of polar auxin transport inhibited callus formation from the top, while external application of auxin was sufficient to induce callus formation from the bottom, suggesting that asymmetric auxin accumulation is responsible for active callus formation from the top end. We further found that the expression of a key regulator of callus formation, WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX 13 (WOX13), is induced by auxin. The ectopic callus formation from the bottom end, which is triggered by locally supplemented auxin, requires WOX13 function, demonstrating that WOX13 plays a pivotal role in auxin-dependent callus formation. The asymmetric WOX13 expression is observed both in grafted petioles and incised inflorescence stems, underscoring the generality of our findings. We propose that efficient organ reconnection is achieved by a combination of local wounding stimuli and disrupted long-distance signaling.

Synthesis and Properties of a Decacyclene Monoimide and a Naphthalimide Derivative as Three-Dimensional Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor Systems.

A method involving the Diels-Alder (DA) cycloaddition of diacenaphtheno[1,2-b;1',2'-d]thiophenes (DATs) with N-alkylacenaphthylene-5,6-dicarboximides (AIs) was developed to synthesize decacyclene monoimides (DCMIs). The reactions generate the corresponding 1:2 adducts (BAIAs) as major products together with 1:1 adducts (the DCMIs). The molecular structure of BAIAb (N-octyl derivative) was unambiguously assigned as the bis-adduct having an endo,endo spatial disposition of the two acenaphthylene-5,6-dicarboximide moieties by using X-ray crystallographic analysis. Relative to the absorption spectrum of decacyclene triimide (DCTIa, N-2-ethylhexyl derivative), that of the analogous N-2-ethylhexyl-substituted monoadduct, DCMIa, is bathochromically shifted despite the fact that it possesses a less delocalized π-electron system. DCMIa does not fluoresce in various organic solvents, whereas DCTIa emits yellow fluorescence in CH2 Cl2 with a low quantum yield (ΦSN ). Moreover, DCMIa in CDCl3 displays concentration-dependent 1 H NMR spectroscopy behavior, which suggests that it self-aggregates with an association constant (Ka ) of (193±50) m-1 at 20 °C. Despite the presence of four bulky tert-butyl groups in DCMIa, its Ka value for aggregate formation is comparable to that of DCTIa [(495±42) m-1 ], which does not contain tert-butyl substituents. Spectroscopic studies with the bis-adduct BAIAa (N-2-ethylhexyl derivative) show that it displays remarkable solvatofluorochromism corresponding to an emission maximum shift (ΔλEM ) of 100 nm. The results of density functional theory calculations on BAIAc (N-methyl derivative) demonstrate that a considerable spatial separation exists between the HOMO and LUMO coefficient distributions, which indicates that the ground-to-excited state transition of the novel three-dimensional acceptor-donor-acceptor BAIAa system should have intramolecular charge-transfer character.