Development of ceramic settlement devices for coral reef restoration using <Emphasis Type="Italic">in situ</Emphasis> sexual reproduction of corals

A ceramic coral settlement device (CSD) was developed to raise juvenile corals in situ in preparation for transplantation. The CSD is designed to be deployed in the water before mass spawning of corals, allowing larvae to settle and grow on the CSD before it is fixed to the reef structure. CSDs were aggregated and fixed on 0.2-m² frames (either 648 or 720 CSDs per frame) and deployed in the Sekisei Lagoon around the full moons of April and May in 2002. Seven frames were collected in August 2002 and settled corals were counted in the laboratory. The maximum number of coral colonies settled on CSDs in one frame was 617, with 94% belonging to the genus Acropora. The aggregated CSDs successfully functioned as a coral settlement substratum, with more appropriate arrangement of CSDs on the frame, enabling greater exposure to sunlight and currents, which is expected to increase the amount of settlement.     

The respiration in leaf disks from younger taro plants under a moderate potassium deficiency

It has been reported that there is a considerable difference in the response of leaves and roots to K-deficiency (1), which may be due to the difference in the severity of the deficiency in the two tissues under the same K-application (2). The previous work (3) suggested that the metabolic disturbance induced by K-deficiency might depress preferentially the metabolism in roots rather than that in leaves. Another work with taro leaves in the later growth stage (4) suggested that any indirect metabolic disturbance caused by an extended K-deficiency might result in a depressed operation of the TCA cycle. The bleeding experiments with taro plants in the earlier growth stage (5) showed that arseniteand DNP-treatment in vivo with the roots, both reduced significantly the release rate of nitrogenous constituents and water with bleeding sap. Based on these informations, the growth and the respiration of leaves under a moderate K-deficiency were re-examined with younger taro plants in an attempt to compare them with those of the roots (4). At the conclusion of a series of studies on the nutritional physiology of taro plants, effects of Kdeficiency on the metabolic activities of the plants are discussed in special relation to the mitochondrial respiration.     

Inhibitory effects of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate on the mutation,DNA strand cleavage,and DNA adduct formation by heterocyclic amines

Green tea is known to be a potential chemopreventive agent against cancer. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory activities of tea extracts, and in particular the polyphenolic component (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), against heterocyclic amine-induced genotoxicity. The tea extracts displayed inhibition of 2-hydroxyamino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a,3',2'-d]imidazole (Glu-P-1(NHOH))-induced mutagenicity. This inhibition can be accounted for by the presence of EGCG in the extracts. The mutagenic effect of Glu-P-1(NHOH), which induces single-strand cleavage in supercoiled circular DNA under neutral conditions, was inhibited by EGCG. Using the Drosophila repair test, a test for gross DNA damage, and DNA adduct detection by (32)P-postlabeling, we showed that EGCG prevented 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline-induced DNA damage and adduct formation in insect DNA. EGCG was found to accelerate the degradation of Glu-P-1(NHOH) in vitro. This observation suggested that the inhibition by EGCG is associated with an accelerated degradation of metabolically activated heterocyclic amines.     

Patterns of aquaporin expression in the canine eye

Aquaporins (AQPs) function as water channels in many types of cells involved in fluid transport. More than 10 isoforms have been identified, and these are differentially expressed in many types of mammalian cells in the body. Six AQPs (AQP0, AQP1, AQP3, AQP4, AQP5, and AQP9) have been identified in the eyes of humans and/or rodents. The unique permeability characteristics and distribution of AQPs indicate their diverse roles in the regulation of water homeostasis in the eye. The aim of this study was to investigate the localisation of AQPs in normal canine eyes, with AQP0 protein expressed in the crystalline lens and retina. Although AQP1 mRNA was detected in various areas of the canine eye, its protein expression was limited to the cornea, iris and ciliary body. AQP4 was identified in the iris, retina and optic nerve. AQP3 and AQP5 were found in the cornea and conjunctiva, and their expression was particularly high in the limbus. AQP3 and AQP5 were present in the nictitating membrane indicating that they play a role in water transport within the membrane. The observations suggested that several subtypes of the AQP family are involved in the regulation of water homeostasis in the canine eye.     

DIFFERENCES IN ACQUISITION OF ORGANIC NITROGEN IN SOILS BETWEEN BOK CHOY AND TOMATO

Seedlings of bok choy and tomato were grown in soils with different nitrogen (N) sources [no N (?N), ammonium sulfate (AS), and cattle farmyard manure (CM)]. Comparison between soils treated with ?N and CM indicated that the growth and N accumulation in bok choy were significantly enhanced by CM treatment, whereas no difference was found in tomato. In the rhizosphere soils, the highest protease activity was detected in CM treatment irrespective of species. Correlation analysis between rhizospheric protease activity and total N accumulation of plant treated with –N and CM showed a significant positive correlation only for bok choy. The determination of amino acid absorption rate in excised roots indicated that glycine was taken up at a significantly higher rate in bok choy than tomato. This study suggested that at least two possible factors affected the acquisition of organic N: rhizospheric protease activity and ability to absorb amino acids in roots.     

Development of room-temperature curing aqueous emulsion-type acrylic adhesive II: effect of monomer composition on the final adhesive strength

In a series of studies, development of a new aqueous emulsion-type adhesive for use with wood or paper, which does not release formaldehyde or volatile organic solvents, was attempted. For the purpose of increasing both initial and final adhesive strengths, we selected a system consisting of acrylic monomers copolymerized with functional monomers such as diacetone acrylamide and some cross-linking agents such as dihydrazide or polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI). It was found that dihydrazide cross-linker was effective for both the initial and final adhesive strengths, suggesting contribution of hydrazone bonds to the bonding strengths. Cross-linking with pMDI might be slow and was not important in the initial bonding. However, its cross-linking effect might develop gradually, because the adhesive showed good final strengths using pMDI as a cross-linker.     

Immunohistochemical evaluation of canine ovarian tumors

Canine ovarian tumors (epithelial tumor, sex-cord stromal tumor, germ cell tumor) classifying into 9 histological types were examined immunohistochemically using placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), cytokeratin7 (CK7), desmin, S100, AE1/AE3, inhibin alpha, vimentin, and alfa feto-protein (AFP). The papillary and tubular types observed in epithelial tumors were immunoreactive for desmin and AE1/AE3. The papillary type was also immunoreactive for PLAP and CK7. The solid type, nest type, cord type, palisade type, cystic type and spindle type, which were observed in sex-cord stromal tumors, showed a positive immunoreaction for S100 but little or no positive immunoreaction for inhibin alpha with an exception of positive result in the palisade type. Most of the sex-cord stromal tumors were AE1/AE3-positive except for the palisade type. In the cobblestone type observed in germ cell tumors, only vimentin and AFP were positive. The present study elucidated the detailed histological and immunohistochemical characteristics of canine ovarian tumors.     

Immunohistochemical evaluation of canine ovarian cysts

To clarify the immunohistochemical characteristics of canine ovarian cysts, 109 canine ovarian cysts (57 cysts of subsurface epithelial structures: SES, 26 graafian follicle cysts, 12 cystic rete ovarii and 14 cysts difficult to classify morphologically) were examined regarding their lining cells immunohistochemically using antibodies against placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), S100, inhibin alpha, desmin and AE1/AE3. Both cysts of SES and cystic rete ovarii had a positive immunoreaction to desmin and AE1/AE3, whereas all cysts all but graafian follicle cysts were negative for inhibin alpha. PLAP-positive immunoreaction was observed only in cysts of SES. Graafian follicle cysts had a positive immunoreaction to inhibin alpha, but were negative for PLAP, desmin and AE1/AE3. Fourteen cysts were difficult to classify morphologically because these cysts had single-squamous lining cells and lacked other morphological characteristics. However, these unclassified cysts were immunohistochemically divided into two groups, including positive and negative cysts, by the reactivity of PLAP. The PLAP-positive cysts were considered large cysts of SES. These results suggest that PLAP was a useful marker for classification of cysts of SES, although cysts originating from SES are not always positive for this antigen.