ABSTRACT: To assess the effect of a seaweed mixture on lipid levels in serum as well as platelet aggregation in rats, Eisenia bicyclis ('Arame'), Hizikia fusiformis ('Hijiki') and Undaria pinnatifida sporophylls ('Mekabu'), all brown seaweeds, and Porphyra yezoensis ('Susabinori'), a red seaweed, were powdered and mixed in a ratio of 45:30:20:5 (w/w). When rats were fed a cholesterol-rich diet containing this mixture of seaweeds (9–10% w/w) for 28 days, serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, free cholesterol, and triglyceride levels declined significantly to 49.7%, 48.1%, 49.0% and 74.8%, respectively, of those of the control. Serum HDL-cholesterol, however, was unchanged. Though activated partial thromboplatin time, prothrombin time, antithrombin III activity, and fibrinogen levels in plasma were unchanged, the maximal ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation decreased significantly to 89.0% and 85.5% control levels, respectively. These results indicate that this mixture of E. bicyclis , H. fusiformis , U. pinnatifida sporophylls, and P. yezoensis , is useful for the prevention of hyperlipidemia and thrombosis in rats. 相似文献
To test the impact of a range of long-term land use types on the partitioning of microbial residues among soil particles, samples from a Mollisol with plots under 100 years of continuous arable cropping, 30 years of simulated overgrazing to severely degraded bare soil, or 30 years of grassland restoration were investigated. The microbial residues, which were assessed among three particle-size fractions (<2, 2–20, and 20–250 μm) by amino sugar extraction, exhibited change with particle size and land use. Converting arable cropping to bare soil induced substantial depletion of amino sugars associated with the clay-size fraction, as a proportion of total carbon (C) and total soil mass, but not the silt- and sand-size fractions. Alternatively, switching arable soil to grassland increased amino sugar stocks in both the clay- and sand-size fractions. Analysis of the relative input of fungal and bacterial derived amino sugars indicated that fungal sources are the most dynamic with respect to land use change. These results highlight the selective vulnerability of microbial C pools in finer fractions under low plant C input and the selective recovery in specific fractions upon restoration, emphasizing the importance of the conversion of plant organic matter into mineral-associated microbial residues to promote stable soil organic C. 相似文献
The study of interactions between humic substances (HSs) and soil filamentous fungi is the key to understanding the sustainable soil functioning. The present work aims to examine the decomposition of HSs by filamentous dark-pigmented fungus Alternaria alternatа under the laboratory conditions and to determine the effect of easily assimilable organic carbon on this process. Analyzing such polydisperse substances like HSs by a complex integrated methodology makes it possible to explore the data on their decomposition by microorganisms.
Materials and methods
To achieve the aforementioned goals, we used chromatographic and spectroscopic approaches: low-pressure size-exclusion and hydrophobic interaction chromatography accompanied by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. To determine the effect cometabolism conditions produced on HS decomposition, two types of carbon substrates were added to the nutrient media: easily assimilable organic carbon (standard 0.3% or reduced 0.03% sucrose content) and hardly assimilable organic carbon (HSs), as well as their combinations. Five HS samples of different organic matter origin have been inspected: potassium humates (HPs) and humic acids (HAs) from coal, peat, and lignosulfonate. Correlation matrix and principal component analysis (PCA) were calculated for comprehensive data analysis.
Results and discussion
Transformations of the investigated HSs under fungal cultivation lead to the increase in the low molecular weight fraction, rise of hydrophilic fraction, enlargement of absorbance ratio A250/A365, shortening of the emission wavelength of the humic-type fluorescence, and growth in the fluorescence quantum yield measured with excitation at 355 nm. A positive correlation was observed between the accumulation of fungal biomass and the degree of HS decomposition. PCA analysis confirms that the difference in the results of HS decomposition largely depends on the sucrose content and the nature of HSs. We divided all the HS samples into four groups according to the degree of HS decomposition: original HS solutions, HPs altered using fungal cultivation at 0.03% sucrose, HAs after fungal cultivation at 0.03% sucrose, and finally, HSs (both HPs and HAs) after fungal cultivation at 0.3% sucrose.
Conclusions
In the laboratory experiments, we showed that (1) the isolated HAs were more effectively degraded than the parent HPs, and this process was more pronounced at a reduced sucrose content, and (2) the decomposition of stable organic compounds (HSs) was activated by the easily assimilable carbon sources (especially 0.3% sucrose) being present. We assume that it is the easily assimilable organic carbon that most likely triggers the HS degradation working as the priming effect in natural environments.
The objectives of this study were to establish a protocol for the isolation of metabolically viable ventricular cardiomyocytes from the rainbow trout and to determine which measures may best reflect viability 24 h after isolation. Cardiomyocytes were isolated by enzymatic digestion and maintained in cell suspension. Viability was assessed using Trypan blue dye exclusion, ATP content, oxygen consumption and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage into the medium. Viability, assessed by these measures did not significantly change over the time period of this study. ATP content did correlate significantly with oxygen consumption but not with Trypan blue exclusion. We conclude that primary cultured cardiomyocytes remain metabolically viable for at least 24 h after isolation. Also, it appears that ATP content and oxygen consumption most adequately reflect metabolic cell viability. To be confident with a culture, however, a combination of viability measures is necessary when isolating cardiomyocytes from fish. 相似文献
Coupling media are necessary to ensure that transducers bond to wood specimens to minimize coupling losses and improve the
accuracy of ultrasonic measurements. There are several types of coupling media available, and the optimal choice is not known.
In this work, we analyzed the results of ultrasonic wave attenuation for 0.1-MHz longitudinal and transverse transducers with
six different materials as coupling media in nine species of Brazilian wood with densities in the range 700–1170 kg/m3. Tests were performed using constant pressure on the transducer and with wave propagation in the longitudinal direction.
For transverse transducers, the polarization was in the radial and tangential directions. The results were analyzed statistically
and showed that, for attenuation in both longitudinal and transverse waves, the material used for coupling had significant
effects, whereas the wood species had no effect. For longitudinal waves, the statistical evaluation showed that the coupling
material performance was strongly dependent on the species of wood, but it was not possible to observe any tendency of behavior
associated with specific anatomical properties. 相似文献
Through a series of workshops with the stakeholders including nursery operators, tree farmers, staff of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources, local government units and the academe, a forestry seedling nursery accreditation policy
was developed. The resulting policy was subsequently implemented by the municipal government of Palompon, Leyte. The accreditation
policy encouraged nursery operators to follow smallholder-based best management practices for tree nurseries. Implementation
of the nursery accreditation policy improved farmers’ knowledge and skills in the production of high quality seedlings, encouraged
adoption of BMP for forest nurseries, provided additional source of income for the farmers, enabled members of the groups
operating the communal nursery to forge closer relationship with each other, encouraged utilization of farmers’ free time
in productive activities, developed farmers’ confidence in producing high quality planting materials, and gained for the farmers
favourable attention from various organizations and groups. The Bennett’s hierarchy of project outcomes showed that the implementation
of accreditation scheme achieved high levels of outcomes, indicating that it led to substantial improvements in the lives
of the farmers. 相似文献
Participatory research methods have helped scientists to understand how farmers experiment and to seek partnerships with farmers in developing technologies with enhanced relevance and adoption. This paper reports on the development of a participatory methodology to systematize long-term experimentation with agroforestry systems carried out in a hotspot of biodiversity by non-governmental organizations and local farmers. A methodological guide for systematization and techniques used for Participatory Rural Appraisal formed the basis of our work. We propose an analytical framework that recognizes systems of reflexive and learning interactions, in order to make the learned lessons explicit. At the process level, the main lessons and recommendations are as follows. It is important to establish partnerships to conduct innovative and complex experimentation with agroforest. Participatory systematization allows us to improve the methodological aspects of design, implementation and management of on-farm participatory experimentation. It also serves to synthesize the main findings and to extract lessons from agroforestry systems experiments. It fosters the technical improvement of agroforestry systems. It creates possibilities for reflection on agroforestry systems by farmers, extensionists and researchers, as well as their learning with respect to management of such systems. The findings are placed in the context of current theory on participatory experimentation in agriculture. Extractive and interactive approaches help to produce rich insights of mutual interest through collaboration by identifying local, regional and global convergences, complementarities, and conflicts of interest; which affect the advance of new eco-friendly technologies, to both improve the livelihoods and to reverse biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. 相似文献
This paper presents the first report of the occurrence of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in South America. Several samples were collected during various seasons in 2012 and 2013, and a significant number of individuals were obtained and identified. Based on the data recorded during each sampling campaign, including the locality, temperature, time of year, and number of individuals collected, several conclusions were drawn about the development of this invasion in southern Brazil. 相似文献
In pine forests damaged by pine wilt disease, in western Japan, the effect of protection regimes of pine trees on the stand dynamics were examined in the following four stands: (1) lightly damaged stand (age 30–40 years) with no procedure in operation for protecting pine trees; (2) severely damaged stand (age 30–40 years) with no procedure in place for protecting pine trees; (3) severely damaged stand (age 50 years) with a selective cutting of infected trees; (4) severely damaged stand (age 30–40 years) with a selective cutting of infected trees. All the stands had been abandoned before the pine wilt disease damage. The understory structure of the severely damaged stand with no protection procedure was similar to that of the lightly damaged stand. Frequent invasion by tree species and acceleration in the growth of understory trees occurred after the dieback in the selective cutting stand. These results suggest that a deficiency in the canopy layer caused by the dieback resulted in low disturbance intensity in the early stages after the dieback, but the selective cutting increased the intensity by the reduction in the understory as well as the canopy layer. The intensity of the disturbance in the selective cutting stands was larger in the younger stand because it had a higher density of selectively cut pine trees. The different stand structure of pine forests occurred after the dieback because the intensity of the disturbance varied as a result of the selective cutting operation and the stand age. 相似文献