Flowering plants attract pollinators via various stimuli such as odor, color, and shape. Factors determining the foraging behavior of pollinators remain a major theme in ecological and evolutionary research, although the floral traits and cognitive ability of pollinators have been investigated for centuries. Here we show that the autofluorescence emitted from pollen and anthers under UV irradiation may act as another attractant for flower-visiting insects. We have identified fluorescent compounds from pollen and anthers of five plant species as hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives. The fluorescent compounds are also shown to quench UV energy and exhibit antioxidant activity, indicating a function as protectants of pollen genes from UV-induced damage. A two-choice assay using honeybees in the field demonstrated that they perceived the blue fluorescence emitted from the fluorescent compounds and were attracted to it. This result suggested that the fluorescence from pollen and anthers serves as a visual cue to attract pollinators under sunlight.

Many plant-dwelling mites including phytophagous spider mites and predacious phytoseiid mites suffer lethal deleterious effects from solar ultraviolet-B (UVB; 280-315 nm wavelength) radiation. Phytoseiid species also often feed on pollen as an alternative food source. As pollen is frequently exposed to solar radiation, it is likely to contain compounds that protect germ cells from UVB radiation and radiant heat. If phytoseiid mites can obtain these protective compounds, pollen feeding may play a role in their adaptation to UVB. In this study, we compared the potential protective effects of tea pollen, peach pollen, and Tetranychus urticae mites as food items in Neoseiulus californicus. Egg hatchability and adult female survival after UVB irradiation were higher in pollen-fed than mite-fed N. californicus. The major protective effects of peach pollen and tea pollen were UVB shielding effects and antioxidant capacity, respectively, and these were derived from distinctive antioxidant components. The major antioxidant in peach pollen was trip -coumaroylspermidine, although its antioxidant capacity was relatively low; instead, it effectively absorbed UVB radiation. By contrast, the major antioxidants of tea pollen were catechin and epicatechin 3-gallate, which had high antioxidant capacities. Our results indicate that the protective antioxidant components in pollen improved UVB resistance in N. californicus, contributing to their adaptation to solar radiation.

No abstract

:The eyes play a crucial role in defining the person's impression. However, there are still few studies of evaluation for the impressions of eye's form including the curve of bilateral upper eyelid. Thus, the aims of our study were to analyze and systematize the curve of bilateral upper eyelid using images of 100 Japanese subjects' eyes. Consequently, we classified the curves of males into 5 clusters and females into 6 clusters. Additionally, our study clarified the relationship between the impressions of masculine/ feminine and the eye's form elements that consisted of the curves systematized the ratio of the width to height, etc. Concretely, we made 70 subjects to evaluate samples assembled with the eye's form elements by using design experiment. As a result of analysis of variance and multiple comparisons of main effects, we clarified that the bilateral upper eyelid were important form elements affecting the person's impression of masculine/feminine.

A 44-year-old female developed acute hepatitis A (HA) 5 weeks after ingesting raw oysters. She developed ascending motor weakness, bilateral peripheral facial nerve palsy, and bulbar symptoms. A diagnosis of demyelinating Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) was made on the basis of her clinical manifestations and the results of a nerve conduction study. The patient showed improvement following combination treatment with intravascular immunoglobulin and high dose methylprednisolone. No antibodies against specific gangliosides, sulfated glucuronyl paragloboside (SGPG), or sulfatide were detected. HA virus (HAV) RNA was isolated from her serum and its full-length genome sequence was determined. It revealed a homology of 99.9% or more with HAV genotype IA (HAV-IA) of the 2014 outbreak. No mutant virus RNA was detected.