This study examined the external morphology and morphometry of the human embryonic inner ear membranous labyrinth and documented its three-dimensional position in the developing embryo using phasecontrast X-ray computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. A total of 27 samples between Carnegie stage (CS) 17 and the postembryonic phase during trimester 1 (approximately 6-10 weeks after fertilization) were included. The otic vesicle elongated along the dorsoventral axis and differentiated into the end lymphatic appendage and cochlear duct (CD) at CS 17. The spiral course of the CD began at CS18, with anterior and posterior semicircular ducts (SDs) forming prominent circles with a common crus. The spiral course of the CD comprised more than two turns at the postembryonic phase, at which time the height of the CD was evident. A linear increase was observed in the length of anterior, posterior, and lateral SDs, in that order, and the length of the CD increased exponentially over the course of development. Bending in the medial direction was observed between the cochlear and vestibular parts from the latero-caudal view, with the angle decreasing during development. The position of the inner ear was stable throughout the period of observation on the lateral to ventral side of the rhombencephalon, caudal to the pontine flexure, and adjacent to the auditory ganglia. The plane of the lateral semicircular canal was approximately 8.08-14.68 with respect to the cranial caudal (z-)axis, indicating that the orientation of the inner ear changes during growth to adulthood. Anat Rec, 298:2081Rec, 298: -2090Rec, 298: , 2015. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Abbreviations used: CD 5 cochlear duct; CS 5 Carnegie stage; IEL 5 Inner ear length; MRI 5 magnetic resonance imaging; PCXT 5 phase-contrast X-ray computed tomography; PE 5 postembryonic phase

We examined the biotransformation of enantiomeric pairs of enones such as pulegone and carvone in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing Nicotiana tabacum pulegone reductase. It was found that recombinant E. coli cells acquired the ability for stereospecific hydrogenation of the exocyclic C=C double bond of pulegone. However, stereospecificity in hydrogenation with the recombinant E. coli cells was opposite to that in hydrogenation with N. tabacum cells. On the other hand, the isolated recombinant pulegone reductase (rPRase) from the recombinant E. coli cells catalyzed hydrogenation of the exocyclic C=C double bond of pulegone; the hydrogen atoms participating in the reduction at C-8 and C-4 of pulegone originate from the pro-4R hydrogen of NADPH and the medium (H 2 O), respectively. Stereospecificity was lost in the hydrogenation of pulegone with the isolated rPRase, but was recovered when bovine serum albumin was added to the enzymatic reaction as an auxiliary factor.

Translucent LiCaBO 3 :Ce thin plates were prepared by liquid phase sintering using LiBO 2 as a sintering aid, and their fluorescent and scintillation properties were investigated to examine the possibility to use as neutron scintillator. Since the initial part of the directionally solidified specimen contained a second phase of Ca 3 B 2 O 6 , LiCaBO 3 may melt incongruently, and simple melt growth of LiCaBO 3 :Ce is consequently difficult. Translucent thin plates 300 µm in thickness were successfully fabricated from LiCaBO 3 :Ce sintered compacts. Although strong fluorescence with the peak wavelength of 390 nm was observed in photoluminescence measurement, scintillation light yield and detection efficiency by α-particle irradiation were rather poor. The diffuse reflectance spectrum of LiCaBO 3 :Ce revealed existence of an absorption band other than Ce 3+ bands in the ultraviolet region. The band may corresponds to defect levels, which interrupt the energy transfer from the conduction band of the host to the 5d level of Ce 3+ resulting in the degradation of the scintillation performance.

3D models related to the publication: Morphogenesis of the inner ear at different stages of normal human development METHODSWell-preserved human embryos between Carnegie stage (CS) 17 and the postembryonic phase during trimester 1 (approximately 6-10 weeks after fertilization) were selected from Kyoto Collection for MR microscopic imaging and phase-contrast X-ray CT (Nishimura et al, 1968;Shiota et al, 2007;O'Rahilly & Müller, 1987). The 3D PCXT image acquisition conditions are described elsewhere (Yoneyama et al., 2011). Briefly, specimens were visualized with a phase-contrast imaging system fitted with a crystal X-ray interferometer. The system was set up at the vertical wiggler beam line (PF BL14C) of the Photon Factory in Tsukuba, Japan. MR images were acquired using a 7T MR system (BioSpec 70/20 USR; Bruker Biospin MRI GmbH; Ettlingen, Germany) with a 35-mm-diameter 1H quadrature transmit-receive volume coil (T9988; Bruker Biospin MRI GmbH). PCXT and MRI data from selected embryos were analyzed precisely as serial 2D and reconstructed 3D images. The structure of the inner ear was reconstructed in all samples using Amira software version 5.4.5 (Visage Imaging; Berlin, Germany). The 3D surface models were then processed with ISE-MeshTools (Lebrun, 2014); each model was orientated, tagged and labelled using this software. All tagged surfaces are provided in .vtk format, and labels in .flg format. The 3D surface models are also provided in .ply format, and can therefore be opened with a wider range of freeware. This study was approved by The Committee of