Breastfeeding behaviors can significantly change mothers’ physiological and psychological states. The hormone oxytocin may mediate breastfeeding and mothers’ emotion recognition. This study examined the effects of endogenous oxytocin fluctuation via breastfeeding on emotion recognition in 51 primiparous mothers. Saliva oxytocin was assessed before and after the manipulation (breastfeeding or holding an infant), and emotion recognition tasks were conducted. Among mothers who breastfed daily, mothers with more increased levels of oxytocin after breastfeeding showed greater reduced...

Drug detection dogs can be trained to locate various prohibited drugs with targeted odors, and they play an important role in interdiction of drug smuggling in human society. Recent studies provide the interesting hypothesis that the oxytocin system serves as a biological basis for co-evolution between dogs and humans. Here, we offer the new possibility that genetic variation of the canine oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene may regulate the success of a dog’s training to become...

Additional file 2. STROBE Statement Checklist of items that should be included in reports of cross-sectional studies.

A serious disease of amphibians caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was first found in Japan in December 2006 in imported pet frogs. This was the first report of chytridiomycosis in Asia. To assess the risk of pandemic chytridiomycosis to Japanese frogs, we surveyed the distribution of the fungus among captive and wild frog populations. We established a nested PCR assay that uses two pairs of PCR primers to amplify the internal transcribed spacer...

Additional file 1 Supplementary Fig. 2. Full-length gel images of PCR assay. Analysis of PCR products of Toxocara species larvae by electrophoresis on 1.5% agarose gels. (A) Lane C+: Positive control with standard DNA, lane M: 100-bp DNA ladder, lane C-: negative control without DNA, lanes 1-7: infected tissues. The 330-bp fragments are specific for Toxocara canis (lanes 1, 3, 5, and 6). (B) The figure shows tissues infected with Toxocara cati. 100-bp molecular size...

Although there are many examples of color evolution potentially driven by sensory drive, only few studies have examined whether distinct species inhabiting the same environments evolve similar body colors via shared sensory mechanisms. In this study, we tested whether two sympatric freshwater fish taxa, halfbeaks of the genus Nomorhamphus and ricefishes of the genus Oryzias in Sulawesi Island, converge in both body color and visual sensitivity. After reconstructing the phylogeny separately for Nomorhamphus and Oryzias...

Conflicts arising from the consumption of anthropogenic foods by wildlife are increasing worldwide. Conventional tools for evaluating the spatial distribution pattern of large terrestrial mammals that consume anthropogenic foods have various limitations, despite their importance in management to mitigate conflicts. In this study, we examined the spatial distribution pattern of crop-foraging sika deer by performing nitrogen stable isotope analyses of bone collagen. We evaluated whether crop-foraging deer lived closer to agricultural crop fields during the...

Additional file 1 Supplementary Fig. 2. Full-length gel images of PCR assay. Analysis of PCR products of Toxocara species larvae by electrophoresis on 1.5% agarose gels. (A) Lane C+: Positive control with standard DNA, lane M: 100-bp DNA ladder, lane C-: negative control without DNA, lanes 1-7: infected tissues. The 330-bp fragments are specific for Toxocara canis (lanes 1, 3, 5, and 6). (B) The figure shows tissues infected with Toxocara cati. 100-bp molecular size...

Additional file 2. STROBE Statement Checklist of items that should be included in reports of cross-sectional studies.

Abstract Background The epidemiology of Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati in food animals, associated products, and their zoonotic potential are poorly understood. A cross sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of Toxocara spp. larvae from free-range broiler chickens in traditional farms using conventional techniques and molecular method. Eight-hundred tissue samples including liver, gizzard, lungs and heart were collected from 200 chickens belonging to different regions of Zanjan Province, Iran and were processed by...

Abstract Background The epidemiology of Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati in food animals, associated products, and their zoonotic potential are poorly understood. A cross sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of Toxocara spp. larvae from free-range broiler chickens in traditional farms using conventional techniques and molecular method. Eight-hundred tissue samples including liver, gizzard, lungs and heart were collected from 200 chickens belonging to different regions of Zanjan Province, Iran and were processed by...