New Anti-Inflammatory Cembranes from the Cultured Soft Coral Nephthea columnaris

Two new cembranes, columnariols A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the cultured soft coral Nephthea columnaris. The structures of cembranes 1 and 2 were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. In the anti-inflammatory effects test, cembranes 1 and 2 were found to significantly inhibit the accumulation of the pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 protein of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity toward LNCaP cells with an IC₅₀ value of 9.80 μg/mL.     

Effect of various sources of dietary additive on growth,body composition and serum chemistry of juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

Asia traditional herbal feed additives have often been shown to have beneficial effects on disease resistance, growth, feed conversion and protein conversion. There have been few studies on the use of these feed additives in olive flounder diets. The present study was designed to determine if there are benefits associated with the inclusion of any of these traditional herbal feed additives in olive flounder diets. One thousand two hundred sixty juvenile fish averaging 6.5 g were randomly distributed into 36, 180‐L flow‐through tanks. No additive was included into the control (Con) diet. The aqueous type of additives: 2.5% bamboo (BB), 0.25% Prunus mume (PM), 2.5% Artemisia capillaris (AC), 2.5% cinnamon (CC), 2.5% Cirtus junos (CJ), 0.25% Cudrania tricuspidata (CT) and 2.5% Ficus carica (FC), and the powder type of additives: 1% Houttuynia cordata (HC), 1% safflower (SF) and 1% sea tangle (ST) were included into the experimental diets. Finally, 0.1% emulsifying oil (EO) was included into the experimental diet. Feed efficiency ratio (FER) of fish fed the BB, CT and SF diets was higher than that of fish fed the FC and HC diets. Protein efficiency ratio (PER) of fish fed the BB and SF diets was higher than that of fish fed the AC, FC and HC diets. None of serum criteria of fish was affected by any of dietary additives. Dietary additives did not affect weight gain and serum chemistry of olive flounder, but 2.5% bamboo extract and 1% safflower powder was effective to improve FER and PER.     

Effects of dietary substitution of fishmeal with the combined dry microalgae,Nannochloropsis oceanica (NO) biomass residue and casein on growth and body composition of juvenile abalone (Haliotis discus)

The effects of dietary substitution of fishmeal with the combined dry Nannochloropsis oceanica (NO) biomass residue and casein on growth performance and carcass composition of juvenile abalone was determined. One thousand two hundred and sixty juvenile abalone were randomly distributed into the 18 L plastic rectangular containers. Five experimental diets in triplicate were prepared. The 28% fishmeal was included into the control (Con) diet. The 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% fishmeal were substituted with the combination of graded levels of dry NO biomass residue and casein, referred to as the NO25, NO50, NO75 and NO100 diets respectively. Finally, the salted sea tangle (ST), Laminaria japonica was prepared to compare the effect of the experimental diets on performance of abalone. The essential amino acids, such as isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, threonine and valine tended to increase with dietary substitution of fishmeal with NO biomass residue in the experimental diets. Arginine tended to decrease with dietary substitution of fishmeal with NO biomass residue. Survival of abalone fed the experimental diets was higher than that of abalone fed the ST diet for 16 weeks. Weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR) of abalone fed the NO100 diet were higher than those of abalone fed the all other diets. Weight gain and SGR of abalone linearly increased with dietary substation of fishmeal with NO. Shell length of abalone tended to increase with dietary substitution of fishmeal with the combined dry NO biomass residue and casein. The chemical composition of the soft body of abalone was different among treatments except for moisture content. In conclusion, fishmeal in the diets for abalone could be completely replaced with the combined dry NO biomass residue and casein when the 28% fishmeal was included.     

Effect of processing conditions on warpage of film insert molded parts

In order to investigate effects of injection molding conditions on viscoelastic behavior and thermal deformation of film insert molded (FIM) parts, injection molding was performed with various conditions such as injection speed, melt temperature, and packing time. It was shown that variation of the warpage was decreased monotonically with increasing injection speed and exhibited a bell-shaped curve as a function of melt temperature. Warpage variation was not affected by the packing time significantly and the proportional relationship between warpage of the film insert molded part and shrinkage of the injection molded part without film was observed. The FIM specimens produced with unannealed films showed the warpage reversal phenomenon (WRP) during annealing and the magnitude of reversed warpage was affected significantly by the injection parameters and the extent of thermal shrinkage of the unannealed film. Warpage of the FIM specimen was predicted by three dimensional numerical flow and stress analyses and the predicted values showed a good agreement with the experimental results.     

Effect of saponin on hematological and immunological parameters of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Giant freshwater prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (17.9 ± 2.7 g), exposed to different concentrations of saponin at 0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 and 1.2 mg l^− 1 for 168 h were examined for osmolality, electrolyte levels, oxyhemocyanin, protein levels, acid-base balance status, total hemocyte count (THC), phenoloxidase activity, and respiratory bursts. Hemolymph oxyhemocyanin, protein, and pO₂ were inversely related to the saponin concentration. Hemolymph oxyhemocyanin, protein, pO₂, pCO₂, and pH of prawns exposed to 1.2 mg l^− 1 saponin were significantly lower than those of prawns exposed to 0.3 mg l^− 1 and control solutions. However, no significant difference was observed in osmolality or electrolyte levels of prawns exposed to different concentrations of saponin for 168 h. The THC of prawns following 168 h of exposure to 0.9 and 1.2 mg l^− 1 saponin increased, but the phenoloxidase activity decreased suggesting that the decrease in phenoloxidase activity under saponin stress was not a consequence of the increase in THC. We concluded that saponin at as low as 0.9 mg l^− 1 decreases the respiratory protein level and acid-base balance, and modulates the immune system of M. rosenbergii.