Dopamine modulates the optomotor response to unreliable visual stimuli in Drosophila melanogaster

State‐dependent modulation of sensory systems has been studied in many organisms and is possibly mediated through neuromodulators such as monoamine neurotransmitters. Among these, dopamine is involved in many aspects of animal behaviour, including movement control, attention, motivation and cognition. However, the precise neural mechanism underlying dopaminergic modulation of behaviour induced by sensory stimuli remains poorly understood. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster to show that dopamine can modulate the optomotor response to moving visual stimuli including noise. The optomotor response is the head‐turning response to moving objects, which is observed in most sight‐reliant animals including mammals and insects. First, the effects of the dopamine system on the optomotor response were investigated in mutant flies deficient in dopamine receptors D1R1 or D1R2, which are involved in the modulation of sleep‐arousal in flies. We examined the optomotor response in D1R1 knockout (D1R1 KO) and D1R2 knockout (D1R2 KO) flies and found that it was not affected in D1R1 KO flies; however, it was significantly reduced in D1R2 KO flies compared with the wild type. Using cell‐type‐specific expression of an RNA interference construct of D1R2, we identified the fan‐shaped body, a part of the central complex, responsible for dopamine‐mediated modulation of the optomotor response. In particular, pontine cells in the fan‐shaped body seemed important in the modulation of the optomotor response, and their neural activity was required for the optomotor response. These results suggest a novel role of the central complex in the modulation of a behaviour based on the processing of sensory stimulations.     

Oncolytic Virus Therapy with HSV-1 for Hematological Malignancies

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Factors promoting resident deaths at aged care facilities in Japan: a review

Due to an increasingly ageing population, the Japanese government has promoted elderly deaths in aged care facilities. However, existing facilities were not designed to provide resident end‐of‐life care and the proportion of aged care facility deaths is currently less than 10%. Consequently, the present review evaluated the factors that promote aged care facility resident deaths in Japan from individual‐ and facility‐level perspectives to exploring factors associated with increased resident deaths. To achieve this, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science and Ichushi databases were searched on 23 January 2016. Influential factors were reviewed for two healthcare services (insourcing and outsourcing facilities) as well as external healthcare agencies operating outside facilities. Of the original 2324 studies retrieved, 42 were included in analysis. Of these studies, five focused on insourcing, two on outsourcing, seven on external agencies and observed facility/agency‐level factors. The other 28 studies identified individual‐level factors related to death in aged care facilities. The present review found that at both facility and individual levels, in‐facility resident deaths were associated with healthcare service provision, confirmation of resident/family end‐of‐life care preference and staff education. Additionally, while outsourcing facilities did not require employment of physicians/nursing staff to accommodate resident death, these facilities required visits by physicians and nursing staff from external healthcare agencies as well as residents' healthcare input. This review also found few studies examining outsourcing facilities. The number of healthcare outsourcing facilities is rapidly increasing as a result of the Japanese government's new tax incentives. Consequently, there may be an increase in elderly deaths in outsourcing healthcare facilities. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify the factors associated with residents' deaths at outsourcing facilities.