Environmental impacts of the Japanese beef-fattening system with different feeding lengths as evaluated by a life-cycle assessment method

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the environmental impacts of a beef-fattening system using the life-cycle assessment (LCA) method and to investigate the effects of feeding length on the LCA results. The functional unit was defined as one animal, and the stages associated with the beef-fattening life cycle, such as feed (concentrate and rough-age) production, feed transport, animal management, animal body (i.e., biological activity of cattle), and the treatment of cattle wastes, were included in the system boundary. Our results suggest that enteric or gut CH4 emissions of cattle were the major source in the impact category of global warming (2,851 kg of CO2 equivalents), whereas NH3 emissions from cattle waste were the major source in the impact categories of acidification (35.1 kg of SO2 equivalents) and eutrophication (6.16 kg of PO4 equivalents). Feed production also contributed a great deal to all categories. A shorter feeding length resulted in lower environmental impacts in all the environmental impact categories examined in the current study, such as global warming and acidification, although there was a difference in effect of reducing environmental impacts among the categories.     

Exclusion of polymeric immunoglobulins and selective immunoglobulin Y transport that recognizes its Fc region in avian ovarian follicles

In avian species, blood immunoglobulin (Ig) Y, the equivalent to mammalian IgG, is selectively incorporated into ovarian follicles, but other classes, IgA and IgM, are much less abundant in the follicles. Several mammalian Igs, including IgG and IgA, are also incorporated into ovarian follicles when administered to birds. To clarify the Ig structure required for incorporation into ovarian follicles, Ig uptakes were determined after the intravenous injection of chicken and human Igs. Three chicken Igs (cIgY, cIgA and cIgM) and two human IgAs (monomeric hIgA and polymeric hIgA) were labeled with digoxigenin, and their uptakes into quail (Coturnix japonica) egg yolks were determined by ELISA and SDS-PAGE. The uptake of cIgY was the highest among the three cIgs (22% of injected cIgY was recovered from egg yolks). Chicken IgA was efficiently incorporated into egg yolk when it formed a monomeric state. Pentameric IgM was untransportable into egg yolk. We also found that the uptake of monomeric hIgA was much more efficient than that of polymeric hIgA. These results suggest that the retention of the monomeric form contributes to the efficient transport of Igs into ovarian follicles. On the other hand, Ig uptakes among monomeric Igs nevertheless differed; for example, a time-course analysis showed that the rate of monomeric cIgY uptake was approximately eight times faster than that of monomeric hIgA. The injection of cIgY fragments Fc, Fab and F(ab')(2) resulted in the largest uptake of Fc fragment, with the same level as that of cIgY. These results suggest the presence of a selective IgY transport system that recognizes its Fc region in avian ovarian follicles.     

Application of a compact magnetic resonance imaging system for toxicologic pathology: evaluation of lithium-pilocarpine-induced rat brain lesions

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful noninvasive tool used to detect lesions in clinical and veterinary medicine. The present study evaluated the suitability of a new easy-to-use compact MRI platform (M2 permanent magnet system, Aspect Imaging, Shoham, Israel) for assisting with preclinical toxicologic pathology examination of lesions in the rat brain. In order to induce brain lesions, male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated once with lithium chloride (127 mg/kg, intraperitoneal [i.p.]) followed by pilocarpine (30 mg/kg, i.p.). One week after dosing, the perfused, fixed brains were collected, analyzed by the MRI system and examined histopathologically. MRI of the brain of treated rats revealed areas of high T1 and middle to low T2 signals, when compared with the controls, in the piriform cortex, lateral thalamic nucleus, posterior paraventricular thalamic nucleus and posterior hypothalamic nucleus of the cerebrum. The altered MRI signal areas were consistent with well-circumscribed foci of neuronal cell degeneration/necrosis accompanied by glial cell proliferation. The present data demonstrated that quick analysis of fixed organs by the MRI system can detect the presence and location of toxicologic lesions and provide useful temporal information for selection of appropriate sections for histopathologic examination before routine slide preparation, especially in complex and functionally heterogeneous organs such as the brain.     

Studies on the immunolabeling of heartwood extractives: characterization of anti-agatharesinol antiserum

The reactivity of previously prepared antiserum against agatharesinol, a norlignan, was determined by competitive inhibition–ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) using several natural compounds that are representative of plant extractives as competitive inhibitors. The antiserum strongly reacted with some norlignans (i.e., agatharesinol, hinokiresinol, and metasequirin C), each of which has a common chemical-structural unit. This result suggests that the antiserum recognizes the specific chemical-structural unit composing those norlignans. Moreover, differences in the reactivities of the antiserum with agatharesinol derivatives and synthetic chalcones propose the trans-3-p-hydroxyphenyl-1-phenylpropene structural unit as the major antigenic determinant for the antiserum.Part of this paper was presented at the 45th Lignin Symposium, Matsuyama, October 2000 and the 51th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, April 2001     

Greenhouse gas reduction and improved sustainability of animal husbandry using amino acids in swine,poultry feeds

In Annex 1 countries, nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from swine and poultry excreta have been calculated and the N₂O reduction potential of each country by using amino acids in feed could also be calculated, then a comparison made among the countries. The N₂O reduction rates were approximately 25% for these Annex 1 countries and amino acids were able to make a large contribution to that reduction. Greenhouse gases (GHG) which are N₂O combined with methane (CH₄) were estimated to reduce by 24.8% in Japan when amino acids were introduced into the feed, but only a 7.2% reduction was estimated in France. Purification, which is mainly used for manure treatment in Japan, emits much more N₂O and less CH₄, whereas the liquid system which is mainly used in France emits more CH₄ and less N₂O based on the emission factors from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change data base. Changing the French manure treatment system to the Japanese style with amino acids in feed would reduce GHG emissions by 23.4%. Reduction of the arable land use in Japan by changing crop formulations supported by adding amino acids to feed was also quantified as about 10% and led to an increase in the production of meat using the same arable land area.     

Effectiveness of medium pruning on the reduction of radioactive cesium concentration in new shoots of tea plants in Ibaraki Prefecture,Japan

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) plantations in the northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, approximately 100 km southwest of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), were contaminated with radioactive cesium (Cs) released from the power station during the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster in 2011. Radioactive Cs concentrations in new shoots were monitored over the 3 years since June 2011. The use of conventional skiffing management resulted in 64% lower radioactive Cs concentration in October 2011 compared with that in June 2011, and the concentration continued to decrease gradually thereafter. Medium pruning to approximately 40 cm from the ground decreased radioactive Cs concentrations in the first tea crop of 2012 and 2013 by 24–25% more than conventional skiffing management.     

New Cyclic Lipopeptides of the Iturin Class Produced by Saltern-Derived Bacillus sp. KCB14S006

Salterns, one of the most extreme natural hypersaline environments, are a rich source of halophilic and halotolerant microorganisms, but they remain largely underexplored ecological niches in the discovery of bioactive secondary metabolites. In continued efforts to investigate the metabolic potential of microbial populations from chemically underexplored sites, three new lipopeptides named iturin F₁, iturin F₂ and iturin A₉ (1–3), along with iturin A₈ (4), were isolated from Bacillus sp. KCB14S006 derived from a saltern. The structures of the isolated compounds were established by 1D-, 2D-NMR and HR-ESIMS, and their absolute configurations were determined by applying advanced Marfey’s method and CD spectroscopy. All isolates exhibited significant antifungal activities against various pathogenic fungi and moderate cytotoxic activities toward HeLa and src^ts-NRK cell lines. Moreover, in an in vitro enzymatic assay, compound 4 showed a significant inhibitory activity against indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.