05). Incorrect responses generated significantly greater BOLD responses in the angular gyrus in survivors (p less then 0.05), and no response trials generated greater BOLD responses within the superior parietal lobule (p less then 0.05) compared with controls. Working memory impairment appears to be due to an inability to manipulate information and to retrieve information from memory. The ability to delineate the affected neural circuits associated with chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment could inform treatment strategies, identify patients at high risk of developing cognitive deficits, and pre-emptively tailor behavioral enrichment to overcome specific cognitive deficits. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.BACKGROUND There have been few reports on the current population genetic structure of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Japan.  https://www.selleckchem.com/pharmacological_MAPK.html  In the present study, we conducted a molecular epidemiological analysis based on WGS against MRSA strains in a Japanese NICU. METHODS Against fifty-seven MRSA strains from fecal or nasal specimens from NICU patients in Juntendo University Shizuoka Hospital in the period of 2013-2014, we performed genotypings by whole genome sequencing (WGS), PCR-based typing of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) and PCR-based open reading frame typing (POT). RESULTS Forty-nine MRSA strains (86.0%) exhibited a clonal complex (CC) 1, and were divided into three sequence types (STs); ST2725 (n=25), ST2764 (n=21), and ST1 (n=3). All CC1 MRSA strains had SCCmec IVa, and were resistant to new quinolones, which are limited in pediatric use, suggesting that these strains were derived from adult MRSA clones. SNP differences of both ≤10 and >100 nucleotides were observed by pairwise SNP analysis among ST2725 and ST2764 MRSA strains, respectively. Seven strains ST8 MRSA strains (12.2%) were isolated, and no strain exhibiting the Japanese hospital associated-MRSA genotype (ST5/SCCmec II) was isolated in this study. CONCLUSIONS Our molecular epidemiological analysis suggested that ST2725 and ST2764 MRSA strains had genetic diversity that couldn't be explained by only a recent transmission event in the NICU. These MRSA clones might be disseminated in other Japanese hospital facilities as a new endemic clone. Our results are expected to contribute to the improvement of infection control measures of MRSA in NICUs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Agricultural burning is used in farm management operations however, information about the impacts of fire cues on the release and /or induction of secondary dormancy in crop seeds is scarce. Seeds from two oilseed rape cultivars were induced for high (HD) and low (LD) secondary dormancy by polyethyleneglycol (PEG) pre-treatment and their germinations after exposure to various fire cues were compared to control PEG pre-treated and also non-dormant seeds. Non-dormant seed germination remained unaffected by various fire cues. Low doses of aerosol smoke released secondary dormancy in HD seeds while higher doses increased dormancy of LD seeds. Diluted smoke water also released HD seed secondary dormancy but the concentrated one enhanced dormancy in both LD and HD seeds. The concentrated aqueous extracts from charred oilseed rape straw promoted only the germination of HD seeds while after dilution inhibited LD seed germination. Heat shock (80°C, 5 min) released secondary dormancy in HD seeds however, higher temperatures and /or increased exposure time was associated with seed death. GC-MS analyses of smoke water revealed two butenolides and an array of monoaromatic hydroxybenzene compounds with potential germination inhibitor or promoter activities. The extent of secondary dormancy induction in seeds affects their subsequent responses to fire cues. Both aerosol smoke and smoke water contain germination promoter and inhibitor activities. Free from any butenolides, aqueous extracts from charred straw contained a potential germination stimulating steroid i.e. ergosterol. The significance of fire-derived cues on behavior of oilseed rape seeds in the soil seed bank has been discussed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Emerging evidence indicates that small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and their isoforms (isomiRs), and transfer RNA fragments (tRFs), are differently expressed in breast cancer (BC) and can be detected in blood circulation. Circulating small RNAs and small RNAs in extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as ideal markers in small RNA-based applications for cancer detection. In this study, we first performed small RNA sequencing to assess the expression of circulating small RNAs in the serum of BC patients and cancer-free individuals (control). Expression of 3 small RNAs, namely isomiR of miR-21-5p (3' addition C), miR-23a-3p and tRF-Lys (TTT), was significantly higher in BC samples, and was validated by small RNA sequencing in an independent cohort. Our constructed model using 3 small RNAs showed high diagnostic accuracy with an AUC of 0.92, and discriminated early-stage BCs at stage 0 from control. To test the possibility that these small RNAs are released from cancer cells, we next examined EVs from the serum of BC patients and control. Two of the 3 candidate small RNAs were identified, and shown to abundant in EVs of BC patients. Interestingly, these 2 small RNAs are also more abundantly detected in culture media of breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). The same tendency in selective elevation seen in total serum, serum EV, and EV derived from cell culture media may indicate that the efficiency of this model using total serum of patients. These findings indicate that small RNAs serve as significant biomarkers for BC detection. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Di- and tri-methylation of lysine 27 on histone 3 (H3K27me2/3) is a critical gene repression mechanism. We previously showed that downregulation of the H3K27 demethylase, Jumonji domain-containing protein 3 (JMJD3), resulted in a reduced number of protein kinase C (PKC)α-positive rod ON-bipolar cells. In this work, we focused on the role of another H3K27 demethylase, ubiquitously transcribed tetratricopeptide repeat X chromosome (UTX), in retinal development. UTX was expressed in the retinal progenitor cells of the embryonic mouse retina and was observed in the inner nuclear layer during late retinal development and in the mature retina. The short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of Utx in a mouse retinal explant led to a reduced number of PKCα-positive rod ON-bipolar cells. However, other retinal subtypes were unaffected by this knockdown. Using a retina-specific knockout of Utx in mice, the in vivo effects of UTX downregulation were examined. Again, the number of PKCα-positive rod-ON bipolar cells was reduced, and no other apparent phenotypes, including retinal progenitor proliferation, apoptosis, or differentiation, were observed.