Marketing and distribution of walleye pollock: past,current and future developments

In this paper, we examine the structure and change of the walleye pollock industry from a marketing and distribution perspective. Our focus is not only on industrial internationalisation, but also on local industry and community utilisation of walleye pollock. This is a subject of interest because its diverse utilisation has the potential to promote industrial management as well as the livelihood of local communities. We reason that Japan’s weakness in marketing, distribution and price setting of walleye pollock is largely due to its lack of competitiveness in the world market. Given the rapid decline of walleye pollock utilisation by local industry and society, it is of critical importance to take steps towards a long-term solution considering the rapid decline of walleye pollock use by our local industry and society. Our analysis indicates that Japan’s walleye pollock industry is inherently resilient, with diverse commodity chains, business flexibility and traditional food culture. However, as local industry and community have been reducing use of walleye pollock over time, there is a need to restore and reactivate the local society.     

Application of the coastal ecosystem complex concept toward integrated management for sustainable coastal fisheries under oligotrophication

Harmonizing coastal fisheries with water-quality improvement has become an essential factor for the sustainable use of coastal ecosystem services. Here, we present the scope of our study based on an interdisciplinary approach including ecological actions, socio-economic actions and socio-psychological actions. We chose to focus on the interaction between oyster aquaculture and seagrass vegetation as a typical ecological action using the coastal ecosystem complex (CEC) concept. Coastal organisms have adapted their traits to the environment over a long period of time, so that restoration of the CEC represents reconstruction of the original process of coastal production. Subtidal seagrass vegetation with intertidal oyster reefs is the original CEC in Japan, which would be expected to enhance coastal production by improving the production efficiency without adding nutrients. A simple field experiment examining carbon and nitrogen contents and stable isotope ratios revealed that oyster spats cultivated on a tidal flat adjacent to seagrass beds had higher nitrogen contents and higher δ¹³C ratios than spats cultivated in an offshore area using only pelagic production. This result suggests that utilization of the CEC, which enables oysters to use both pelagic and benthic production, has potential to sustain a food provisioning service for humans, even in oligotrophic conditions.     

Auricular chondritis caused by metal ear tagging in C57BL/6 mice

Although it has been shown that auricular chondritis in rats is caused by the use of metal identification ear tags, the pathogenesis remains unclear. Based on the hypothesis that the auricular chondritis is caused by metal ions released from metal identification ear tags, we investigated the pathogenesis in male C57BL/6 mice tagged with metal identification ear tags. Twenty-six weeks after the attachment of the ear tags, visible increases in the thickness of the auricle were observed, and the concentrations of copper and iron in the tagged ears were significantly increased (P < .05) in the tagged ears compared with the untagged ears. There was up-regulation of metallothionein (MT)-I and MT-II mRNA in the tagged ears, and this was confirmed by immunohistologic staining of the destroyed cartilage. Histopathologically, there were observed severe chondritis with extensive granulomatous inflammation, newly formed cartilage nodules, and osseous metaplasia accompanied by cellular infiltrates, such as CD4 T lymphocyte, macrophages, neutrophils, and mast cells, and expression of Th1 cytokines, such as interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-2 in the tagged ear. Based on these results, we concluded that the release of copper and iron ions from the metal ear tags played a major role in the onset of auricular chondritis. Subsequent cellular interactions, such as CD4 T cells, macrophages, fibroblasts, and mast cells, mediated by cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma, caused an autoimmune response that may have led to the progression of auricular chondritis as an autoimmune disease.     

Effects of the lipopolysaccharide-protein complex and crude capsular antigens of Pasteurella multocida serotype A on antibody responses and delayed type hypersensitivity responses in the chicken.

The effects of the lipopolysaccharide-protein complex (LPS) and crude capsular antigen (CCA) prepared from Pasteurella multocida serotype A isolated from a duck in the Philippines, on antibody responses to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and Brucella abortus (BA) and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the chickens were studied. Chickens injected subcutaneously with LPS and CCA at 1 and 2 weeks of age and immunized intravenously with the mixed antigens of SRBC and BA, at 3 and 4 weeks of age showed significantly increased antibody responses against both SRBC and BA, when evaluated at 7 days after each immunization. In addition, these chickens sensitized intramuscularly with the emulsion of BSA in complete Freund's adjuvant at 5 weeks of age, and then injected into the wattle with BSA at 7 weeks of age also showed significantly increased DTH responses against BSA, when evaluated at 24 and 48 hr after challenge. These results indicate that LPS and CCA of P. multocida serotype A have a property enhancing humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.     

类胡萝卜素对磷脂酰胆碱脂质体过氧化的抑制作用

将蛋黄磷脂酸胆碱（PC）制成的脂质体用于类胡萝卜素抑制脂质过氧化研究,β-胡萝卜素抑制TBARS积累没有诱导期。当存在于脂质体膜上时,类胡萝卜素抑制脂质过氧化能力的顺序如下：鸡油菌黄质＞叶黄素≈β-胡萝卜素＞胭脂树橙。类胡萝卜素在水分散液中存在时,抑制脂质过氧化能力按胭脂树橙＞叶黄素＞鸡油菌黄质＞β-胡萝卜素顺序递减。结果表明,类胡萝卜素抑制脂质过氧化与其作用的介质环境密切相关。